WildCard0531's Lenten Season: Top 50 Favorite Video Games
by WildCard0531
Summary: For Lent 2020, I'm going to be talking about my 50 favorite games; one game per day will be discussed. If you want to know about my taste in gaming, by all means go ahead and take a look
1. Day 1: Lollipop Chainsaw

Prologue

Well, it's almost time for yet another Lenten Season, you know that time when you give a vice up or do something do improve yourself for 40+ days? Well, this year I'm looking to do something a little different.

Since I am a bit of a gamer, I'd like to use these next 50 days to talk about my Top 50 Favorite Games; 1 game for each day in Lent. Think Caddicarus' Cadvent Calendar but it's Lent/Easter.

This was a bit of a challenge because over the past 22 years I've been alive, I've played a good sum of games. So some ground rules are in order. First, only three games per franchise are allowed on here, with a few instances of rule bending here or there. Second, I have to have gotten at least more than halfway through the game to consider putting it on the list. So, with these rules in mind here's a list of Honorable Mentions

**Honorable Mentions: **MadWorld, Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, The Last of Us, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Mega Man X, Banjo-Kazooie, Nier Automata, Playstation All Stars Battle Royale, Sonic Generations, Little Big Planet 2, Knack 2, Pac Man World

Also bear in mind, none of these entries are set in stone as new games are always coming out, and I get further and further into games I either haven't played yet, or just started playing. So we'll see how long it takes for this list to become outdated…probably by the time Lent ends.

Anyway, with everything said and done, this is WildCard0531's Lent Challenge: Top 50 Favorite Games! Let's do this!

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Day 1: Lollipop Chainsaw

Let's start our little marathon off with the only Suda 51 game I've played besides Travis Strikes Again, this is Lollipop Chainsaw. So what could a game with a title like that possibly be about? Well I'll tell you, and when I do you can easily tell that this is a game made by no one else but Suda 51.

In Lollipop Chainsaw, you play as cute and sexy cheerleader Juliet Starling. It's her birthday today, and it just happens that the zombie apocalypse is going on at the same time too, and it's all caused by some Marilyn Manson looking motherfucker named Swan. Now it's up to Juliet, her disembodied head of a boyfriend named Nick, and her crazy family consisting of badass Cordelia, batshit insane Rosalind, and DILF Gideon to save the day.

Lollipop Chainsaw has some very fun gameplay, allowing you to do magnificent and flashy combos with your chainsaw, turn your chainsaw into a freaking shotgun, and use your chainsaw as a motorcycle to get over some big jumps. Of course, since you're also a cheerleader, you're more than welcome to bash the zombie scum with your pom-poms and cheering routines. Give the zombies something to gawk at before they die…again! Leave it to Suda 51 to take something as simple as gardening equipment and pom-poms and making them awesome.

This game's humor is also on point. While it's not the funniest game I ever played, we're gonna cross that bridge when we come to it, it's definitely up there. Between Rosalind's insanity…

**Rosalind: (Rather fast) Hey, Juliet, I came to save you! Something is wrong with this bus! URGH! It's really irritating! Is that a new purse? Wait! It's your boyfriend! He's a decapitated head! Fuck me! That's the coolest thing ever! WAH! I almost hit a bird, look out!**

The interactions between Nick and Juliet's dad, Gideon…

**Gideon: What are you gonna do? Throw magic stars at chupacabras with your tongue?**

**Juliet: Maybe, dad. Nick's tongue is very limber.**

**Gideon: AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!**

**Nick: She doesn't. She doesn't know that at all, sir! She has no idea if my tongue is limber.**

Nick's reactions to everything around him, especially after he's reduced to a talking head…

**Nick: How am I still talking without a FUCKING THORAX!?**

And Nick and Juliet's interactions…

**Juliet: I hate it when everyone turns into zombies, but it's also kind of fun 'cause I get to do stuff like jump on a firetruck!**

**Nick: Ha, ha! It is fun! It almost makes me forget that most of my friends are dead!**

You'd be hard pressed not to find a moment that didn't make you at least smile.

One last thing I have to mention are the boss fights, The Dark Purveyors, more specifically their concepts. They are all so memorable because they're all based on some kind of genre of music.

You have Zed, a punk rocker who attacks with his microphone, giant speakers, sound waves, and profanity!

There's Vikke, a heavy metal/Viking zombie who uses brute force in his attacks like his lightning axe, generating lightning storms with his drumset, and having his head act like a pinball during his final phase.

Mariska, a hippie zombie who can clone herself and you have to fight her in what I can only describe as a really bad acid trip...with bubbles.

Josey, a funk zombie who is drenched in 70s/80s, who attacks from an Identified Fucking Object by blasting you with his keytar, dropping 8-bit bombs, or ramming into you forcing you to play Simon Says to dodge his attacks.

Lewis Legend, a rock n' roll zombie who attacks from his guitar/shotgun as he zips around on his motorcycle/elephant mech…and is also inspiration for one of my villains in the South Park Saints, Tobias Shredder.

And finally, Killabilly…essentially he's Zombie Elvis who will crush you with his hands, throw cars at you, and occasionally try and eat you.

Once again, only Suda 51 can make bosses this insane and make them work.

Like I said, this and Travis Strikes Back are the only games I've played from Suda, so I'm definitely going to try the original two No More Heroes games when I get the chance, but that's neither here nor there, let's finish this off.

Add in some character customization (some making Juliet look sexier than others) and have your main character be voiced by Tara Strong, and you have one recipe for a great hack n' slash by Suda 51. If wacky/low brow humor and zombies are your thing, give this game a go and see how off the chain it really is.


	2. Day 2: Conker's Bad Fur Day

Day 2: Conker's Bad Fur Day

From one game with low brow humor to the next, it's Conker's Bad Fur Day! Man playing this game nowadays reminds me of how awesome Rareware was. This was one of their last games they made with Nintendo, their last game for the N64, and probably their best work in my opinion.

The story follows a red squirrel named Conker after getting drunk at the bar the previous night, and now he has to go on one of the craziest adventures Rareware has ever put out just to get home to his girlfriend Barri. It's a simple story in concept, but the execution is anything but simple.

This game has a tendency to mess around with tones. One minute you're in a land made of feces, the next you're in the prehistoric era, then the next you're in a survival horror game, then the next you're fighting in a war, and to top it all off you're robbing a bank Matrix style! Keep in mind the overall story is Conker just trying to get home. It's like the developers weren't sure what game they were making and just decided at the drop of a hat, "Fuck it, let's do whatever and see what sticks!" It's insane, it's nonsensical, and it's freaking awesome!

Like I said, this was Rareware's last game on the Nintendo 64, a Nintendo console. You know, Nintendo, home kid friendly stories, colorful environments, unique level design, characters that curse up a storm, boatloads of toilet humor, sexual innuendos, gratuitous gore that's used in bad taste…wait what?! Yeah, one look at this game, hell one look at the commercial for this game and you can tell that was not meant for kids despite everyone looking like they come straight out of a Disney film! It'll make you wonder how Nintendo okayed this game's release despite the kid friendly reputation they built up. I've definitely gotta give Rareware respect for creating what I can only describe as the South Park of video games…before the likes of Stick of Truth and Fractured But Whole…and excluding the actual South Park video games that were released at the time. Seriously with the overall tone of the game would find itself right at home in something like Happy Tree Friends. I know I'm not the first to make the comparison, and I'm definitely not going to be the last.

Other wacky elements this game has include, but are not limited to: A weasel mafia, a singing pile of shit for a boss fight, fire imps controlling a big-balled boiler for another boss fight, a caveman with a small dong for _another _boss fight, and a bee that pollinates a big breasted sunflower! I repeat, a bumble bee pollinates a big breasted sunflower in a way that makes it sound like the bee is making love to it! You can't make this shit up no matter how hard you try. This game is wacky and I love every minute of it.

Going on to the humor, when it's not throwing shit, farts, and gore in your face, they're throwing in some hilarious uses of pop culture. These instances include but are not limited to the aforementioned Matrix reference, The Terminator, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Alien, Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, The Exorcist, hell the game starts in a reference to, of all things, A Clockwork Orange! It's like the game watched all of the pop culture references in Fanboy and Chum Chum and actually made them work.

Conker himself is also a source for hilarity. I'm just going to say this right now, Conker is not necessarily a nice guy. He's a womanizer, greedy, rude, and any acts of kindness he does are few and far between, and he usually does these good deeds if he gets something out of it. But yet he's somehow the most likeable character in the game. This is probably due to his reactions to the crazy world around him and we get to see his interactions with characters that, in some instances, are crazier or bigger jerks than he is.

_**(Moment #1)**_

**Carl the Cog: Fuck off!**

**Conker: Why is everyone so offensive around here?**

**Carl the Cog: Either bring me back me missing cogs, or fuck off!**

**Conker: You don't have to shout.**

**Carl the Cog: I'm deaf. Speak up or fuck off!**

_**(Moment #2)**_

**Franky: Not from 'round here, are you boy?**

**Conker: No, I'm from the 21****st**** century.**

**Franky: I don't rightly recollect liking your type. Therefore, I conclude, I is gonna kick your butt around this barn like there's no tomorrow! I is gonna stick my big fork right into yous.**

**Conker: Were your parents related? Like, before they were married?**

But by far what everyone remembers the most about this game is its ending, probably the most depressing ending a game of this nature has ever had. I'm about to get into spoilers so just a heads up.

After defeating the final boss, Conker finds himself as the new king after the previous king got killed off in the game's finale, basically meaning Conker cannot go back home to a normal life, and to make matters worse, his girlfriend Barri is also dead. At this moment, Conker realizes that he has everything he could ever want, but nothing that he truly needs. The final image is just Conker sitting on his new throne, contemplating everything that has happened. I think his final words sum it up best…

**Conker: ****So, here I am, King. King of all the land. Who'd have thought that? Huh, not me. I guess you know who these guys are now, because I certainly do. I don't wanna know them. And yup, I may be king, I have all the money in the world and all the land, and all that stuff. But you know, I don't really think I want it. I just wanna go home, with Berri, and, I don't know, have a bottle of beer. **_**Hmmm.**_** It's not gonna happen. It's true what they say, "The grass is always greener, and you don't really know what it is you have, until it's gone…gone…gone…"**

Would you expect this to be the finale of a game that has a singing pile of shit for a boss fight? I don't know what happened in development of this game that lead to this downer ending with a powerful message on how you shouldn't take what you have for granted, but…it somehow works. I guess it's like when South Park does something heartfelt or tries to give a good message: It's important, it comes directly from the heart, but you have to get through mountains of pop culture references and toiled humor to get to it.

Now, with the ending of this game in mind, does that make Conker's Bad Fur Day one of the great games that you have to play? Not especially. I can see the humor in this game turning off some people, and there are moments where the gameplay expects you to learn a new control scheme right from the get go (I'm looking at you zombie killing section of "Spooky" and subsequent Count Batula boss fight). These aspects are definitely something not everyone is going to fall in love with, but if you can get through all of that, or if this kind of game is up your alley, then I can assure you that Conker's Bad Fur Day will show you a great time.


	3. Day 3: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2!

Day 3: Moero Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2

Japan is a freaking weird place isn't it? This is Moero Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2! Holy shit that's a mouthful. Anyway, by looking at this title you can easily tell that this is a game that remained Japan exclusive. Thank you Ebay!

In Ouendan 2 you play as a cheering squad, or _cheering squads_ in this case, who, what else, cheer people on as they undergo whatever task they are doing. These tasks can range form something mundane like helping someone get a job, encouraging a sumo wrestler to be the best at the sport for his fans, help an ex-wrestler turned hotel maid please an important guest, or help a young boy reveal his feelings for a girl that's moving away.

That's good and all, but then we get weird shit like a shoe salesman trying to sell his shoes to aliens, a trio of engineers trying to build a robot to take on a giant cat, a trio of middle aged housewives attempting to save a pop star from what I can only describe as Japanese Vikings, a personified text message in his journey to get from one phone to the next, and a sequel to the legend of Momotaro, now an old man who has to return to Demon Island to take down the demons once more. And all of this culminates in one final mission where you have to reignite the sun through the power of cheering!

Christ almighty, and I thought Conker's Bad Fur Day was weird. Then again this is Japan I should be more surprised when they _don't_ do stuff like this.

The gameplay in this game is simple. Just tap to the beat, and take the occasional break to slide and spin when necessary. However, this game adds something that not even its predecessor or American counterpart Elite Beat Agents ever could. It adds hidden modes. If you get a high enough score, you can unlock Hidden Mode: A mode that hides the beat markers before you have to hit them, and allows you to see them for a split second before you have to hit it. This adds a whole new layer of challenge to an already admittedly challenging game. And apparently there's a hack of some kind that allow you to play the game in Mirror Mode making the game even harder.

This game also introduces multiplayer that Elite Beat Agents did, and on the subject of that game, you can even unlock alternate costumes that allow you to play as the agents. That's pretty cool and a nice way for this game to show love for its underrated American counterpart.

Now for the big reason why I love this game, the music. I can't say I've heard the original songs myself, but the covers for this game are very well done ranging from okay at worst to downright eargasmic at best.

The songs are also used for very appropriate moments. Some examples being Home Made Kazoku's Shounen Heart being played during Momotaro's stage. Shounen Heart translates to 'A Young Boy's Heart,' and we're basically following the elderly Momotaro as he ventures back to Demon Island once again to take on the demon's he once slayed in his early years. There's also AI's heartfelt song Believe playing during a level where after a girl's sister dies, she fulfills said sister's wish on getting a gold metal. And then there's Sekai Wa Sore Wo Ai To Yobundaze, a song of unity that plays during the final level when everyone, both Ouendan cheering squads included, bands together to reignite the sun and defrost the world. iNiS really knew how to find the right music to match a certain moment.

This game takes what worked about the first Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents and expanded up on it to give us what is, in my opinion, the best rhythm game out there. If Nintendo should ever return to this franchise I'd welcome its return with open arms. If you own a DS and you don't have this game, I highly recommend importing a copy. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

It's challenging, charming, and has just the right amount of Japanese wackiness, Ouendan 2 is one game that deserves a really good cheer.


	4. Day 4: New Super Lucky's Tale

Day 4: New Super Lucky's Tale

Ever heard the story about the underrated platformer that was born on the Xbox One, then got adopted by Nintendo and found a better life on the Switch? No, well boy do I have a story to tell you. This is New Super Lucky's Tale.

I personally thought Super Lucky's Tale was just fine the way it was, but Playful Studios decided to freshen the game up by changing the design of some of the levels, giving new costumes to the playable character Lucky, add the DLC levels Gilly Island and Guardian Trials free of charge, and add new cutscene cinematics in the style of a storybook. This game got a much needed coat of paint that really works in its favor. Speaking of the story, let's talk about it real quick.

A powerful cat wizard named Jinx and his children known as the Kitty Litter **(HA! PUNS!) **are out looking for the macguffin of the day, The Book of Ages, which is a book containing a series of parallel worlds. However, upon finding said book, Jinx and the Kitty Litter get sucked up into the book…and Lucky gets sucked up too because this is his game and his story, of course he would. To make matters worse, The Book of Ages scattered its pages all over these worlds, and now it's up to Lucky to find these pages before Jinx and his Kitty Litter can.

Oh yeah, get ready boys and girls we've got a Collect-a-thon on our hands.

Each level that the game has you go through involve collecting pages in the following ways:

Option A: Get to the end of a level

Option B: Collect the letters L-U-C-K-Y

Option C: Enter a secret area in each level

Option D: Collect 300 coins in each level

Option E: Throughout each hubworld are areas where you can play a puzzle, either a marble maze where you have to collect every coin (On a side note these mazes are cancer) or a statue sliding puzzle where you have to have all of the lucky statues glow green before you get your page. These puzzle can get surprisingly very hard and force you to really think about where to move each statue.

Like I said, all of these are your typical collect-a-thon quests. Something along the lines of Mario, Banjo-Kazooie, and Crash Bandicoot. So if that style of game is your thing, this game should be right up your alley.

The levels also have that 90s collect-a-thon feel to them; they're big and open but ultimately linear if you just want to blow through the game. Which isn't recommended because each boss requires you to collect a certain number of pages before you advance. There are three main types of levels: Your 3D platforming levels, again very similar to the likes of Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, 2D platforming levels akin to something like Donkey Kong Country, and auto-run levels. All three level types are really fun to go through and collect shit.

The characters in this game are all memorable and likeable. While Lucky and his sister Lyra…

**(Lyra from South Park Warzone Collection shows up)**

**Lyra: Did you call me, Mr. WildCard?**

"**No, Lyra, I didn't call you. Go back in Fanfic Purgatory until I'm ready to make my next chapter."**

**Lyra: But I don't have a role in the next chapter of the South Park Warzone Collection.**

"**Congratulations you get an extended stay in Fanfic Purgatory. Besides you won't be alone, Felix will be there with you. Now go back in there or I'll pull the plug on the entire South Park Saints Fanfic Universe."**

**Lyra: You wouldn't dare!**

"**Try me, I already pulled the plug on my 'South Park Gang Plays Chardee MacDennis Fanfic.'"**

**Lyra: Fine…asshat! (Leaves)**

"**Anywhere, where were we? Oh right."**

…while Lucky and his sister Lyra are you generic protagonists that you would find a platformer like this, characters like the other Guardians and Jinx's Kitty Litter are very well done. I can't really say much about Anna Lyd since she's basically Tess but not a villain…and a worm, but CH1P is an expy of Richard Simmons and The Penultimate Warrior is an expy of Macho Man Randy Savage. That's pretty hilarious.

As for Jinx and the Kitty Litter, they also have distinct personalities that make them memorable. Master Mittens is the Arrogant Kung-Fu guy trope, Tess is the Mad Scientist/Evil Inventor trope, General Buttons is your Crazed War General with his cohort Lt. FluffinStuff being the big dumb muscle to his small statue, Lady Meowmalade is your pop star/diva, and then there's Jinx, a former guardian that betrayed his comrades all for the sake of getting his paws on The Book of Ages. The game doesn't give Jinx much depth beyond that but it is nice to see him get a backstory. Jinx and the Kitty Litter also have some fun boss fights, Meowmalade and Jinx especially being a great test at your platforming skills.

Oh, also there's this character called Gregg the Mail Golem who considers Lucky to be his best friend and is always filling the loading screens with helpful hints and words of encouragement…Gregg is a good boi.

The only complaints I have with this game is that, one, the music really isn't that memorable. Not terrible by any stretch of the word, just forgettable. Second, this game is pretty-easy. Even the Guardian Trials, while harder than the main game, is still easy if you take your time and know what you're doing. With how often this game hands out extra lives, you'd be hard pressed to get a game over. To me, however, the difficulty is a small thing as I like a game I can just pick up and play, but I can see how it can be a real deal breaker for some people.

If you don't mind the easy difficulty however, go ahead and give this game a try to see if this is a tale worth getting invested in. I know it was for me, and I'm very much looking forward to hearing it a second, third, or even a fourth time.


	5. Day 5: Mega Man X4

Day 5: Mega Man X4

Since the last game was so easy, let's even it out with a decently difficult one. This is Mega Man X4; The Mega Man X series' first real jump onto the PS1 and Sega Saturn, and by God did they hit the nail on the head with this one. Why's that? Three words

Zero.

Is.

Playable.

And he has his own story in the game to boot. That's already a pretty good start but let's take a look at the story before we do anything else.

Set in the year 21XX, because God knows the Mega Man games can't give a specific date, a Maverick hunting group known as Repliforce, led by figures simply known as General and Colonel, is accused for the dropping of the game's opening stage, Sky Lagoon, onto a city of humans and reploids, killing millions as a result when in reality it was Sigma who has come back yet again to stir the pot and be an overall asshole. After the dropping of Sky Lagoon, however, Repliforce, after refusing to clear their name…for some reason they clearly didn't do it yet they don't want to clear their names but that's neither here nor there…decide to make a utopia solely for reploids in…

**Space Core: SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!**

Anyway…while the Repliforce new utopia is getting set up, Zero and X must go out in search of Repliforce members, as well as some Mavericks that are looking to spread trouble, and end the supposed coup.

At points the story can be a little hard to follow and both Zero and X's stories are basically the same bar a few bosses, weapons, and we learn a bit more about Zero in his story like how he was originally created by Dr. Wily, the villain of the original Mega Man series. And how Zero develops a relationship with Colonel's sister, Iris, which, not to spoil anything, ends rather tragically…in more ways than one.

**Zero: WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHRRRRR!**

I will defend this game's animated cutscenes to the death but my god the acting is atrocious. It's not Mega Man 8 levels bad, but still.

Anyway, the real meat of any Mega Man X game, X4 especially, is the game play, and my God it translates well to the PS1 and Saturn.

Starting with Zero, he mainly focuses on combat with his Z-Saber and makes the gameplay feel less like a run and gun and more like a hack and slash. The weapons Zero gets really reflect this too, being more Z-Saber techniques for you to play with.

X's gameplay is pretty much similar to the last few times you play as him, you run around, jump around, shoot shit, occasionally find a power-up, and dash and wall jump whenever necessary. On the subject of dashing, I really love how you leave behind after images when you dash. It really does make you feel like you're going fast.

The whole presentation of this game is quite impressive actually. Good to see Capcom not going for the typical 3D/Polygon graphics most games were doing at the time. No joke, the X games on PS1 are probably some of the best looking games the series ever had.

The levels are also very vibrant and fun challenges you have to go through, and they usually match up with the respective Maverick/Reploid Leader very well. You have to go through a whole airforce in Storm Owl's stage, an active volcano in Magma Dragoon's stage, a lush jungle in Web Spider's stage, and cyberspace in Cyber Peacock's stage. The only one that doesn't make sense to me is a Slash Beast's stage being mostly set on a train… Train = Beast? I don't get it, but it's still fun.

All of the boss fights, especially the ones towards the end of the game, really test the skills you've learned up to that point and they can be really fast paced and really intense.

So, to wrap this up, Mega Man X4 is regarded as the best the series has ever been and it's not hard to see why: A more complex story, Zero being a playable character with more depth to him, beautiful graphics and sound presentation, pretty well animated cutscenes, and fun and challenging levels and boss battles, X4 is an X-cellent game…just be prepared to have your balls kicked in by this games difficulty…

…

Unless you're someone like me who played this on the Legacy Collection where you can just select Rookie Hunter Mode and blow through this game like it's nothing…I know, I'm trash.


	6. Day 6: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Day 6: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Ah, Mario, the king of video games. No list about Favorite Games would be complete without a game from this monster of a franchise. As we all know, Mario is well known for his platformers, but he's also tried his hand at other genres. 9/10 times he always lands bullseyes. Trust me when I say this isn't the last I'll be talking about Mario on this marathon, so I'd like to use this day to discuss my favorite spinoff. But which one? Should I talk about one of his sports games? One of the games from the Mario Party series? Or one of his many RPGs? Well, none of them actually. Because my favorite Mario spin-off, which comes from my favorite Mario spin-off series overall, easily has to go to Mario Kart 8, more specifically, the Deluxe version for Nintendo Switch.

Mario Kart 8 was already a fantastic game on the Wii U, you know the Nintendo console that no one liked and the console that Nintendo purposefully tries to forget exist by bringing its better games over to the Switch, yeah that console. But anyway, when porting Mario Kart 8 to the Switch, Nintendo made sure to iron out any issues the previous one had.

For starters, they fixed the battle mode by adding actual arenas instead of having you fight on the racing tracks. Then they include all of the DLC free of charge, including the fast paced 200 CC, the Animal Crossing, Zelda, and F-Zero stages as well as the Mercedes-Benz skins for customization, but also added new characters in the form of Dry Bones, Dry Bowser, Bowser Jr., Gold Mario, King Boo, and the freaking Inklings form Splatoon.

The rules of the game are simple; go for the gold in all of the cups in all five CCs by being as big of a dick to your competition as possible. And that's all thanks to the set of power-ups you are given in each race. While classics like the red and green shells, banana peels, bloopers, and the ever so annoying lightning and blue shell, Mario Kart 8 also introduces new power ups like the Piranha Plant, which gives you a slight booster every so often while also biting any racing that's ahead of you (think of it as a diet Bullet Bill). There's the Boomerang Flower which gives you three chances to throw a boomerang at your opponents before it works like an average green shell (The boomerang also has surprisingly good reach). There's the returning Boo power up which will take the power-up of another racer. The Crazy Eight which will give you a smorgasbord of power-ups for you to unleash hell upon the other racers. And then the best power-up of them all, the Super Horn. You emit a loud noise to slow down any racers in the blast radius, so what makes it so special? Four words

Bye.

Bye.

Blue.

Shell!

Yeah, the Super Horn was a game changer and it's still an amazing power-up/godsend. To make things better, you can wield two power ups in the Deluxe Version. Hell yeah!

Finally, there's the meat of this and every other Mario Kart game, the tracks. Each and everyone of them are vibrant and full of life with my favorite new tracks being Electrodrome, Toad Harbor, Mount Wario, Sunshine Airport, Mario Circuit, Cloudtop Cruise, this game's iteration of Rainbow Road, Shy Guy Falls, Sweet Sweet Canyon, Hyrule Circuit, both F-Zero stages, Excitebike Arena, Wild Woods, and Animal Crossing! Yeah, I really love the tracks in this game. I haven't even mentioned the tracks returning from other games. How good are they? Just take one look at N64 Rainbow Road and tell me how good they are.

Nintendo put all of their hard work and effort into making a great Mario Kart game even better making it the best racing game I ever played and the best Mario Kart game I ever played, and I'm very much looking forward to whatever Nintendo has planned **(THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE MARIO KART TOUR) **for this spin-off series.


	7. Day 7: Yoshi's Woolly World

Day 7: Yoshi's Woolly World

Finishing up the first week of this marathon we have Yoshi's Woolly World, one of the most beautiful games I've ever played and Good-Feel Games magnum opus.

Yeah, it's no surprise that the graphics are what'll immediately draw players in. Everything in this game is made up of, what else, wool. From the vibrant levels, to the characters, to the enemies, to even the projectiles you trhow. Yeah, it's all wool all the time.

People have often called this game a spiritual successor to Kirby's Epic Yarn, another Good-Feel game that utilized an art supply for graphics, in that case yarn. But I don't know if it's the fact that it's put on better hardware or if Good-Feel had more time with this game, something about this game looks even better than Epic Yarn. It's almost like you're playing through a diorama of some kind.

Basically if there's one word I can use to describe this game, it's charming. This is a very charming game, and it shows through the art style.

I feel I've talked enough about the graphics, what's the story? It's your standard Yoshi fare, Kamek turns all of the other Yoshis into bundles of wool so Baby Bowser can build up his castle, and it's up to you to save your friends and put Baby Bowser in his place.

This game plays very similarly to other games in the Yoshi series, especially Yoshi's Island. There are Smiley Flowers, hearts, and bundles of wool for you to collect, and you get the chance to play a fun mini-game at the end of each stage. This game is pretty much another Collect-a-Thon platformer (Probably shouldn't mentioned this back in New Super Lucky's Tale, but get used to seeing Collect-a-Thons when I talk about platformers).

What separates Woolly World from other games like this, however, is how it gives you many different power badges for you to play with. By collecting the beads in each level, you gain access to new badges that'll help you on your quest. These badges can give you more health, make you immune to lava/fire, give you never ending watermelons for you to spit seeds with, allow you to play through a level with Poochy, and many more. All of these power-ups are fun to use and give the game some replay value. It's also really fun to watch as some of these power-ups utterly break the game. If you want to see what I mean, go to the level 'Lava Scarves and Red-Hot Blarggs' with the fire immunity badge on. That level is an utter cakewalk.

Next, there's the matter of the wools you collect. As I 've stated before, all of these wool bundles used to be a Yoshi. So when you collect all five bundles in a level, you reassemble a Yoshi, meaning you can now play as that Yoshi. There's nothing special about it, it's just a cosmetic skin, but it's still a nice touch and the designs of each Yoshi are really creative and reflect the theme of the level you found its wool bundles in. And for those of you amiibo collectors out there, you can put an amiibo on your Wii U reader or 3DS touch screen and make a Yoshi in the likeness of the amiibo it reads. That's pretty cool and gives the amiibos another unique purpose.

But I know what we're all thinking right now, I just mentioned the 3DS touch screen, and that's because this game got ported to the 3DS in 2017 as Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World where the game gives you more amiibo Yoshis to make and adds a sub game in the form of Poochy Dash, an endless runner where you play as Poochy and you collect gems, bop some Shy Guys, collect Poochy Pups, and maneuver around obstacles to get a high score.

Yoshi's Woolly World is an excellent 2D platformer that, while it didn't get a Switch port, it at least got a solid 3DS port and a great sequel in the form of Yoshi's Crafted World. It's a beautiful game to both play and look at, so give it a go if you haven't already.


	8. Day 8: Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

Day 8: Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

The Shantae series is what I consider to be the ultimate 'Rags to Riches' gaming story. I don't mean the character starts out poor and becomes rich as the story progresses, I mean this series started out as a poorly sold, underrated gem on the Gameboy Color, which was dying out to make room for the Gameboy Advance, and then out of nowhere got the attention it rightfully deserved scoring itself four sequels and even plethoras of Smash fans begging her to be one of the next DLC fighters in Ultimate (I myself included).

This series is definitely one that earned every bit of popularity that it has, and I think the series started to become really popular when Shantae and the Pirate's Curse rolled around. Wayforward really knocked it out of the park when making this game.

We start this game with Shantae, who has been stripped of her genie powers in the last game, trying her best to adjust to human life, when her nemesis Risky Boots shows up telling Shantae that her minions have turned on her and all of her stuff has gone missing. The pirate then deduces that it's the work of her former captain, the Pirate Master, who is trying to revive himself after being sealed away. Now the pirate and former half-genie hero must team up and save Sequin Land before any further damage is done.

That's right, we have a story that involves the hero and villain teaming up to take on a common enemy. Naturally, if games like Crash Twinsanity taught me anything, a premise like this leads to some pretty funny moments, and there are one or two moments that are chuckle worthy.

**(After Risky finds Shantae wearing some of her clothes)**

**Risky: Where did you find those?**

**Shantae: Below deck! There's all kinds of fun things to wear. Most of the clothes were much too roomy for me though.**

**Risky: Stay out of my personal effects!**

The gameplay I feel is what separates this Shantae game form the rest of them. In every other Shantae game so far Shantae has access to animal transformations, thanks to her genie powers, that allow her to traverse whatever level she's in. However, since she lost her powers in this game, what's a poor purple haired former half-genie supposed to do? Use her nemesis' items as substitutes that's what.

Just saying, I love the powers you get in this game, and it's a nice change of pace, mostly because instead of going through a menu and selecting which power you want like in other Shantae games, you can activate the powers in this game with a simple press of a button allowing you to chain them together if necessary, like if you need to cross a long gap and you need distance you use Risky's Boots and the Pirate Hat to cross it. These powers are perfect for both navigation and combat, especially when it comes to the boss battles where they find their most practical use in the dungeon they are found in.

All of the characters are very memorable. Of course we have Shantae, Risky, Rottytops, Sky, Bolo, and Uncle Mimic taking up most of the spotlight, but we can't forget the side characters like Squid Baron, Twitch & Vinegar, Ammo Baron, Barracuda Joe, Bran-Son, Abner and Poe, and others for making this cast more memorable as it already is.

I also really like this game's graphical presentation. With the characters being sprite based in the overworlds and having well detailed and beautiful looking character portraits in cutscenes, it really does feel like it's going for the old Metroidvania style like Castlevania Symphony of the Night or the 2D Metroid games. The levels even feel like traditional Metroidvania games like those, having both dungeons and overworlds that encourage exploration in order to find each collectable there is to find like Cacklebats so you can unlock the final level and the Heart Squids to get more health for Shantae.

In conclusion, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a welcome addition to the series, and I'm very much looking forward to the day when Shantae and the Seven Sirens gets ported to the Nintendo Switch.


	9. Day 9: Kirby Triple Deluxe

Day 8: Kirby Triple Deluxe

Poyo, poyo, bitches! It's time to talk about my third favorite Kirby game, Kirby Triple Deluxe, the pink puffball's first outing on the 3DS, and one that made a good impression on the handheld.

Kirby games aren't exactly known for their story, and Triple Deluxe is no different. As told by a beautifully animated cutscene, a dreamstalk sprouts in the middle of Planet Pop Star that leads up to the sky kingdom known as Floralia, and a strange being known as Taranza kidnaps King Dedede, and now it's up to Kirby to save the king and get figure out who is responsible for the dreamstalk.

Again, it's a simple story, but Kirby isn't exactly known for being Pulitzer Prize worthy. It's the gameplay where these games truly shine, and once again, Triple Deluxe is no exception to this.

As you'd expect, you travel around Floralia, sucking in enemies for a copy ability and take down bosses, all of which (They Pyribbit not with standing) are fun challenges and I consider to be some of the best bosses in the series.

We got Flowery Woods for being an actually good first boss in a Kirby game, Masked Dedede for all you Superstar Ultra fans out there, Paintra for all you Canvas Curse fans out there, Kracko because he's a classic boss fight and it's always nice to put an end to this storm cloud, Coily Rattler for testing your skills, especially with the new Archer copy ability, when it comes to accuracy and hitting his weak point, and Queen Sectonia for being another amazing final boss.

This game introduces four new copy abilities.

There's the previously mentioned Archer which allows you to fire arrows in any which way, use your bow as melee weapons a la Pit from Kid Icarus, and hide behind a cardboard cutout to stealthily take out your enemies.

There's Circus which allows you to juggle flaming projectiles, do acrobatics (whether normal or through a flaming ring), balance yourself on a ball, and make balloon animals. All of which are unconventional ways of attacking, but still interesting to use.

There's Bell which allows you to attack with sound waves and even with the bells themselves.

And finally, Beetle, which allows you to harness your inner Heracross and impale/slash away at anything that breaths. This ability also takes a note out of Wing Kirby's book and allows you to fly with wings that can hurt enemies. Yeah, it goes without saying but Beetle is my favorite of the new Copy Abilities.

The new Copy Abilities aren't the showstoppers here, however, for this game introduces the awesomeness that is Hypernova Kirby which allows you to vore anything and everything in sight. Hypernova also gives us interesting ways to solve puzzles and take on mini-bosses. I wouldn't say I like it more than the Super Copy Abilities from Return to Dreamland, but Hypernova does its job just fine for me.

The main game also introduces a bit of a Collect-a-thon of sorts by hiding these keychains all throughout the level, with the cold ones being what you should really look out for. These keychains are all homages to Kirby games throughout the years, all being sprites of Kirby, and his friends and enemies that appear in just about all of the games. That's a nice touch for longtime fans of the little guy.

Finally, if the main game isn't enough for you, Triple Deluxe introduces new modes that'll keep the replay value high.

There's Kirby Fighters, which is basically Smash Bros. if it was just Kirby, and you get to wail away at your competition with whatever Copy Ability you choose.

There's Dedede Tour which allows you to play through the whole game as King Dedede.

Another King Dedede game called Dedede Drum Dash which is a sort of rhythm game where you bounce on drums to the beat of the music while also avoiding enemies. On a side note, wow this game can get difficult in the later levels.

And no Kirby game would be complete without The Arena and The True Arena, allowing you to take on every boss in the game to see how far you can make it and it's an overall testament to how good of a Kirby player you are.

All of these modes are very fun, and Kirby Fighters and Dedede Drum Dash even got their own individual games in the form of Kirby Fighters Deluxe and Dedede Drum Dash Deluxe.

Like Kirby himself, Triple Deluxe is a great big adventure that comes in an adorable little package. I definitely consider this a worthy game in the Kirby series and highly recommend this game to not only all Kirby fans, but also someone who wants to get into the series and needs a starting point. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.


	10. Day 10: A Hat in Time

Day 10: A Hat in Time

"**I wonder what game I'll talk about for Day 10? Hmm…I know! HEY LYRA!"**

**Lyra: Is it finally time for the next chapter of South Park Warzone Collection?**

**No, I'm in the mood to talk about another Collect-a-Thon. Can you be a lamb and fetch me one?**

**Lyra: (Sarcastically) Right away your majesty.**

**(Lyra grabs Banjo-Kazooie)**

**No, not that one.**

**(Lyra grabs Super Mario Sunshine)**

**Nope.**

**(Lyra then grabs A Hat in Time)**

**That'll work. **

So let's talk about A Hat in Time. But where to start? How about the story, that's always a good place to start.

Whilst traveling through space, a girl simply known as Hat Kid is stopped by a member of the nearby planet's mafia, who says she needs to pay a toll just to pass by it. When Hat Kid doesn't comply, the mafia member busts down the window sucking both him, Hat Kid, and her time pieces out into the vacuum of space and down to the planet. Now Hat Kid has to search he planet in search of them.

Along the way she'll meet a mustachioed girl named…Mustache Girl…yeah, and the two of them hit it off well until she discovers that the time pieces can allow one to go back in time. It's at this point when Mustache Girl wants to use the time pieces to basically play God and rid the world of its bad guys. Hat Kid, however, doesn't want to join Mustache Girl on her quest as she simply wants to collect the time pieces and go home, ending the two girls' brief friendship. Now Hat Kid has to not only search the planet of the time pieces, but also stop whatever plan Mustache Girl has up her sleeve.

Yeah, a villain with what I can describe as a God Complex. Pretty interesting for 3D Collect-a-thon standards. And if you look through Mustache Girl's Storybook Pages in the DLC, we learn why she is the way she is. She was apparently a very friendly girl and greeted the mafia with open arms when they arrived to her island. The Mafia basically say, "Friendship? Ain't nobody got time for that!" and take Mustache Girl's island for their own causing to turn into the rebellious mustachioed brat we know today.

Never thought they could actually give a coherent backstory to a character that hardly appears in the game, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's talk about the presentation.

This game's graphics are a treat to the eyes. Everything is so bright, vibrant, colorful, and full of life. Even darker places like the Subcon Forest and Queen Vanessa's Manor are full of life…even if that life is trying to kill your sorry ass, but more on that in a bit. The soundtrack is also very well done, especially the boss themes. The boss themes make the whole situation feel like a big showdown that's been built up the whole level and…yeah, it pretty much is. All of the bosses have been built up to some degree making it all the more satisfying when you eventually beat them.

Helping out these bosses cases are the fact that 9 times out of 10 it's because the boss character itself is memorable. In fact all of the characters are memorable in their own way. From the cute, mischievous protagonist Hat Kid, to the whole Mafia, to the rivaling film directors DJ Grooves and The Conductor, to the hammy and hilarious Snatcher, these characters are the kinds that'll stick in your mind even long after you play the game.

The only complaint I have with the characters is Mustache Girl. Now, like I said, she has an interesting backstory that'll make you feel sorry for her it doesn't change the fact that she doesn't appear much in the game. Really, she only appears in a few missions in Mafia Town, once in the halfway point so she can steal all of the time pieces you've gathered thus far, and the final level. That's pretty much it. What sucks is that after she disappears after the first boss, the game makes you think she'd be a recurring character that'll appear once a level to try and impede your progress, kind of like a Pokemon rival. But nope, this is what we got. A part of me kind of feels ripped off in that regard. I mean, can you imagine if we run into Mustache Girl and she tells Hat Kid her backstory instead of having to rely on DLC to tell it for us? I imagine that would be much more emotional. But unfortunately, we got what we got and we have to live with it. It's not enough to break the game for me, but it's a nitpick none the less so back to greener pastures.

Last but certainly not least, the gameplay, which I find to be the most interesting aspect of all the 3D platformers I've played. Hat Kid does the usual schtick like running and jumping, but to attack she can either use her umbrella, or do a homing attack a la Sonic the Hedgehog. But what sets the gameplay apart from most games of the genre is how you can equip different badges depending on your preferred playstyle.

You usually get these badges from who I can only describe as a glitchy ghost man with a mask, and these badges usually give Hat Kid more abilities to play with. There's a badge that'll give you a lazer attack, a badge that'll save you from fall damage, a badge that'll lower your health to 1 hit point, among other interesting ones. There are even badges that change the presentation of the game like how you can make the characters talk like characters from Banjo-Kazooie with one badge, make the game look like an N64 game with another, and a badge that'll make the game look like a Gameboy game with another.

On top of the badges, Hat Kid also can knit hats with yarn balls that she can find throughout each world. These hats can give her explosive projectiles to throw at enemies, allow her to run fast, slow down time, do a ground pound, and reveal hidden platforms. Each hat can be customizable and so can Hat Kid herself, but these are just aesthetic and doesn't really do much for the game.

And let's not forget about the levels. As per usual with a game like this, these game worlds are big, open, and full of life. But the levels that stick out the most are easily Act 4 of Subcon Forest,and the entirety of Battle of the Birds.

In the former, you must infiltrate Queen Vanessa's Manor to get your next time piece, collecting keys to unlock doors in order to progress. As you look for the key's however, you might want to be on the look out because…she's coming for you.

**Queen Vanessa: WHO'S THERE!? WHO DARE ENTERS MY HOME!**

I mean holy shit! All of the sudden this cute and innocent 3D platformer turns into something you'd expect from a Resident Evil game! When you hear Queen Vanessa come in, that is your cue to either un like hell or hide somewhere. Who knew that a cute game like this would end up being a great source of nightmare fuel and something scarier than most mainstream horror games.

But then there's Battle of the Birds where you have to help tow directors, The Conductor and DJ Grooves, with making their respective movies: A train murder mystery in the former's movie, and a big parade movie for the latter. Each time you complete an act on either side, the director's score goes up, and whoever has the highest score not only determines who wins the award in the final act, but also who will be the chapter's boss fight. That's really cool and interesting.

Finally, throughout each level are hidden time rift challenges that'll really test your skills with the game. The blue time rifts take you to Super Mario Sunshine esque secret levels that'll test your platforming skills while the purple time rifts require you to collect a series of story book pages in a series of gauntlets. Beat the purple time rift and collect all of the pages and you get these unique stories that give off some kind of backstory to the main characters in that world. Most of these are really cute, interesting, and in some cases like Mustache Girl's story, really tear jerking.

A Hat in Time is one of the most complete 3D Collect-a-thon platformers I've played, and it matches the quality of most Triple A titles. It doesn't need anything else to make it any more awesome, but Gears for Breakfast thought otherwise and released DLC involving new levels and a co-op mode. There's nothing left to say except A Hat in Time is a pecking good time…now if I can just make the time to play that DLC.

**Lyra: Oh, something else you're neglecting to do, eh? Why don't you put that on your, 'To Do Eventually List,' right underneath GIVING ME A NEW CHAPTER!**

"**Look, Lyra, I am juggling fanfiction writing and college right now. I would love to see you try and do what I do for one day, and then try and get on my case. Now go back to Fanfiction Purgatory, damnit!"**

**Lyra: Grrr!**

**(Lyra leaves but not before)**

**Lyra: PECK NECK!**

_**WHAM!**_

**(Lyra threw something right at my head. I pick it up and see what it is…It's Pac-Man World 2)**

"**Next time on WildCard's 2020 Lent Challenge…"**


	11. Day 11: Pac-Man World 2

Day 11: Pac-Man World 2

**Previously on WildCard0531's Lent Challenge…**

"…_**Go back to Fanfiction Purgatory, damnit!"**_

_**Lyra: Grrr. **_

_**(Lyra leaves but not before)**_

_**Lyra: PECK NECK!**_

**WHAM!**

_**(Lyra threw something right at my head. I pick it up to see what it is…it's Pac-Man World 2)**_

**And now this!**

Well here's something I didn't expect for this marathon. Really, believe it or not, Pac-Man World 2 was a last_ last _minute entry and that's only because of a recent decision I had regarding the placement of a certain game coming later in this marathon. What that game is I'll tell you when we get to it, but for right now let's talk about Pac-Man World 2.

In this game, Pac-Man must do battle with the Ghost King Spooky after the Ghost Gang, Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde, pluck the Golden Fruit from the tree that sealed him away. Free from his prison, Spooky enacts his plan to eliminate all of the citizens of Pac Land and now it's up to Pac-Man to reclaim the Golden Fruit from the Ghost Gang and seal Spooky away once more.

One thing I like about this game's story is how they took the Ghost Gang we're all familiar with and gave them a key role in the story. That's something the first Pac-Man World didn't exactly do. Sure there were ghosts, but no sign of the Ghost Gang we all knew and have come to despise.

Who knew you could take a simple arcade game from the early 1980's and actually give it a decent plot, let alone turn it into an awesome platform game.

The first Pac-Man World was already a great game, and Pac-Man World 2 did a great job to make the series even better. For one thing the graphics are very nice to look at, both in game and during cutscenes. Keep in mind this was released in February 2002, still during the early days of PS2/Gamecube/Xbox. The levels are bright and colorful, but know when to be dark and atmospheric when needed, especially when you get closer to the end of the game.

Gameplay also received a major upgrade. Why's that? Because unlike the first game, you can actually play with the analog sick. Nothing against the D-pad but I always preferred analog controls. The different controls could also be due to the fact that this whole game is in 3D. The first game was pretty much a 2D game set on a 3D plane. Sure it had elements of a 3D platformer, but you most likely starting a level on the left side and ending it on the right. Pac-Man World 2 is all 3D and the analog controls make this game play like a dream.

Mechanics from the first game make a return like the Rev Roll, Butt Bounce, and abilities like Metal Pac-Man come back allowing you to walk underwater and walk through flames. Furthermore, this game is yet _another _Collect-a-thon where you collect power pellets, fruit, and Galaxian Flagships to play through an what I can only describe as traditional arcade Pac-Man with updated graphics.

However, this game has enough in it to set it apart from its predecessor. There's an ability that shrinks Pac-Man down allowing him to get into small spaces. Pac-Man has a kick attack he can do when he jumps (This is honestly situational though). You can collect these tokens scattered throughout every level and use them to play at the arcade back in Pac-Village. And finally there are vehicle sections to change up the gameplay a bit. Your ice skates/roller blades/scuba gear are basically your endless runner and these can be really fun and fast paced levels to go through, and then there's the submarine which plays like a Starfox game complete with weapons like spread fire guns and Smart Bombs to help you out, but despite that…the submarine levels are easily the worst part in the game and I'm so glad there is only one level and one boss fight with it otherwise I'd throw the game into the nearest ocean. Yellow Pac-Marine is harder than Clyde in the Caldera (YEAH I SAID IT!)

If I did have to complain about something in this game, it's the levels. Now, hear me out, these are by no means bad levels (Yellow Pac-Marine not with standing) and I have loads of fun going through them, it's just the themes are kind of overdone. There's your forest levels, ice levels, water levels, and fire levels. The only world that offers variety in theme is the final world being set in a haunted swamp area. Compare the themes in this game to the themes in the last game. The first game gave us a pirate world, an Egyptian world, a carnival world, a factory world, a space world, and a graveyard world. You could make an argument saying that these themes are overdone too, but at least they go beyond just simple forest level, simple water level, simple fire level, and simple ice level. Again, the levels themselves aren't bad and I enjoy going through them it's just that I wish the overall themes in them were more interesting.

Despite the generic level themes and occasional ball breaking difficulty, by the end of the day I still had fun with this game and would gladly play it again…perhaps on an HD remake? (Hint-Hint, Namco)

To wrap this up, Pac-Man World 2 is an excellent game that I can recommend to any fan of Pac-Man or 3D Platformers…but seriously Namco, remake the Pac-Man World series in HD and put them on next gen, please!


	12. Day 12: Sonic Adventure 1 & 2

Day 12: Sonic Adventure 1 & 2

Remember when I said that I'd have a limit of three games per franchise, but said I'd bend the rules once in a while. Here is one of those instances, but before we go more in depth, how about a little backstory…

_It was the late 1990s, gaming has entered the third dimension. Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time revolutionized not only their respective franchise, but their respective genres too. After those games, other 2D franchises tried this newfangled 3D technology. _

_Mega Man gave us Mega Man Legends. Final Fantasy gave us Final Fantasy VII. Donkey Kong gave us Donkey Kong 64. Bubsy gave us…a flaming pile of garbage but that's neither here nor there. _

_All that was missing was a proper jump from everyone's favorite Blue Blur. While we did get some 3D sonic games like Sonic R, Sonic Jam, and whatever the hell Sonic 3D Blast was, they weren't true, full fledged sonic games like original Genesis games. It took Sega until late 1998, but they finally gave us a 3D Sonic game worth playing. That game was Sonic Adventure_

Part 1: Sonic Adventure

Now this is more like it, Sega. Way to kick your Dreamcast off with a bang! Sonic Adventure was an absolute game changer for the franchise and I feel it still holds up today…mostly the graphics and animation are kind of out dated and pretty laughable, but it's to be expected for a game that's over 20 years old.

Anyway, let's talk about the story, or should I say _stories. _Yup, this game offers six different playable characters all with their own role in the overall plot, so let's go over each of them one by one.

Sonic and Tails' story are basically the same: Hunt for the Chaos Emeralds and stop Dr. Eggman before he gets them all and uses them to power up this game's new antagonist, a being known as Chaos.

Kunckles story involves him finding the pieces to the Master Emerald after Chaos breaks it and sends Angel Island falling from the sky.

Amy's Story involves her trying to protect a Flicky who is being pursued by one of Eggman's robots known as ZERO, and now it's up to her to protect it from the robot and find its family.

Big's story is pointless. Really, all it is, is just him looking for his pet Froggy again…and again…and again. The frog serves a more important role in the story for God's sakes! No seriously, it swallowed a Chaos Emerald and it possessed by Chaos' tail. The story feels more about Froggy and Big is just along for the ride.

Finally, there's E-102 Gamma's story, and he has the most fleshed out story of them all. Originally a work of Dr. Eggman, Gamma goes rogue and tries to hunt down the rest of his E-Series brothers and saves them by destroying them and freeing whatever animal is residing in side them. This all culminates to an epic boss battle against the last of the E-Series robots, E-101 Beta, where after defeating him and suffering a massive blow from his brother, Gamma realizes that he too has a Flicky inside him and gives in to his injuries to release it. Sega didn't have to make a character as well thought out as Gamma for this game, but they did and I like what they did.

All six stories are tied together by the spirit of an Echidna girl named Tikal, who appears during certain points in each story to give exposition on her Echidna tribe, the cute little darlings known as Chao, and what caused Chaos' start of darkness. Not only is this Sonic's first 3D game, but it's also the first game to actually give a well thought out, darker and edgier story. Nothing Pulitzer Prize worthy, but it is interesting to see the series go in this direction with their storytelling, a direction that'll continue into well the sequel (More on that in a minute).

Now let's talk about the gameplay of each character.

Sonic is your usual get to the end of the stage by going as fast as possible, and he gets the most levels out of the six characters with my favorites being Emerald Coast, Wind Valley, Ice Cap, Twinkle Park, Speed Highway, and Red Mountain.

Tails is the same as sonic, except you have to race Sonic to the end of each level. Tails flight abilities make traversing these levels really fun to go through.

Knuckles gameplay is all about exploration, searching big open worlds for pieces of the Master Emerald.

Gamma is essentially a 3D Run and Gun where you have to go through each level, shoot everything in sight, and make it to the end before time runs out.

Amy is pretty much a slower Sonic where she has to avoid ZERO while simultaneously hitting enemies with her Piko Piko Hammer. The hammer is pretty cool mechanic and you get even to a pretty nice long jump with it too when Amy is at full speed. I'm a little bothered by her lack of noticeable speed, but it doesn't ruin the game for me.

What does though is Big's gameplay. Really all it is, is fishing…slow paced fishing…in a Sonic game…And if your line breaks that counts as a lost life. What the hell?

Anyway, another thing that sets the gameplay of Sonic Adventure apart from most other games in the series is the inclusion of upgrades, making the gameplay more interesting.

For Sonic you get the Light Speed Shoes, allowing you to dash through lines of rings, the Crystal Rings which makes the Light Speed Dash charge up faster, and the Ancient Light which allows your Light Speed Dash to attack enemies.

Tails has the Jet Anklet allowing him to fly faster, and the Rhythm Badge which allows him to continuously perform a spin attack.

Knuckles gets the Shovel Claws, allowing him to dig into diggable surfaces, and the Fighting Gloves which look really weird on Knuckles and is only really useful for the Chaos 6 boss fight so, situational item.

Amy gets the Warrior Feather which allows her to perform a spin attack, and the Long Hammer which is pretty much exactly what it is, a longer version of the Piko Piko Hammer.

Gamma gets the Jet Booster which allows him to glide through the air and the Laser Blaster which is a better version of the gun you already have.

Big just gets better lures to help him catch better fish, as well as a Power Rod which helps him cast out further, and the Life Belt which allows him to float on the water…Yes, this is as good as Big gets it so for the whole five of you reading that like Big's gameplay, congratulations.

But Big the Cat not with standing, I had a lot of fun playing as each character and exploring each level they appear in. Now this would be where I would end the day…but this game shares its spot with another…its sequel

Part 2: Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Adventure 2 does what every video game sequel should do: take elements that worked about the first game and expand upon them.

For one thing the graphical presentation is much better than the first game, and they still look pretty decent for today's standards.

Much like its predecessor, Sonic Adventure 2's story is much more complex than its 2D counterparts.

Dr. Eggman, who is now a playable character int his game, ends up freeing an experiment made by his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. This experiment is a black hedgehog simply named Shadow. Shadow has his own issues concerning mankind since long ago, the organization known as G.U.N killed his best friend Maria Robotnik, and now he believes her last words to get revenge on the humans when in reality that wasn't the case. So, Shadow takes Eggman to the Space Colony ARK where he reveals that if he gets all seven Chaos Emeralds, it'll supply enough power to a weapon called the Eclipse Cannon, which Eggman sees as an opportunity to finally rule the world. As this is going on, another new character named Rouge the Bat spies on Shadow and Eggman and pretends to be on their side so she can see what they're up to while also gathering information on Gerald Robotnik's Ultimate Lifeform project…while also trying to nab the Master Emerald from Knuckles every now and again. Will evil finally triumph? Will Rouge succeed in her goals? The answer to these questions is no of course not, and mostly yes.

So you may have noticed a lack of Sonic when describing the story. That's because this game is separated into Hero Story and Dark Story. That was just Dark Story is described to you all. Hero Story involves Sonic being mistaken for Shadow, and now he has to get to the bottom of whatever plot is going on, while also avoiding G.U.N. Knuckles is trying to get the pieces of the Master Emerald after he breaks it when trying to get it away from Eggman. Tails is…the sidekick, nothing really that important. Other than that, Hero Story is just Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails trying to stop Dr. Eggman's nefarious schemes.

So, suffice it to say, story wise, I like Dark Story a bit more. The bit with Sonic being framed in the Hero Story is interesting, but that doesn't really last too long. Dark Story has many different subplots and more interesting characters that I want to follow. It's just a better story all around.

Oh well, at least both stories culminate into an epic Final Story where the Space Colony ARK is on a collision course to Earth, Shadow learns that Maria's last words were for Shadow to give humans a chance to be happy, and we get a pretty sick Final Boss too.

Gameplay in this game is pretty much similar to the first one. Sonic and Shadow cover your speed stages, Knuckles and Rouge must search big open worlds for Emerald Pieces, keys, Chaos Emeralds, or whatever the fuck, and Tails and Eggman oddly enough have gameplay similar to Gamma where you ride in both character's respective mech armor and shoot away at enemies/obstacles. People don't really like Tails and Eggman's gameplay, but I think it's okay. I'll take this gameplay over whatever the hell Big gave us in the last game any day.

Upgrades like Sonic's Light Speed Shoes and Knuckles Shovel Claw return, but Adventure 2 introduces so many more new and interesting power ups. There's an air necklace which allows Knuckles to breath underwater, a Bounce Bracelet which allows Sonic to jump higher, armor to increase Dr. Eggman's mech's defense, items like the Hammer Gloves, Iron Boots, Flame Ring, and Bazooka that'll help you break stronger boxes, just to name a few.

Sonic Adventure 2 also introduces some fun multiplayer modes like foot races, mech battles, Master Emerald shard hunting (So basically single player but with another person playing alongside) and even go-kart racing.

So yeah, both Sonic Adventure games are really fun, really interesting Sonic games made even better by some kickass soundtracks, especially the main themes of each game (Open Your Heart for the first game and Live & Learn for the second game).

Whether you think these games are outdated, classic, or somewhere in between, there's no denying that the Sonic Adventure games gave us some unforgettable adventures that we'd be glad to go on again.

…

Oh yeah, these games also have Chao Garden. I personally don't care much for this mode but I know a lot of people do, and I'm sure a lot of people would put a bounty on my head if I didn't mention it here so…here you go.


	13. Day 13: Undertale

Day 13: Undertale

Undertale, probably one of the biggest gaming phenomenons of the last decade. Seriously, in mid-2015 this game came right the hell out of nowhere and seemed to gain a following overnight. This game had people talking, "Have you played Undertale? You've got to play Undertale! You've got to play it!" So in early 2016, I got myself a Steam account _just for this game_, played it, and…yeah this is a pretty good game and I can understand why it got so much recognition.

Undertale follows the adventures of a young child who falls into a place known as the Underground, a world teeming with monsters that were banished after a war broke out between them and the humans, resulting in the humans setting up a barrier to seal them away with the only entry point being at the top of Mt. Ebott, which is how our hero got in. Now it's up to the human to escape the Underground by heading to King Asgore's castle, where the barrier is, before said king has you killed like six other humans that came before you.

Yeah, through exposition we learn that, despite what I just said about Asgore, he's actually kind of a sympathetic character. The only reason he declared war on humankind is because they killed his son Asriel after he tried to bring his adoptive sibling, who just so happened to be the first human to ever fall in the Underground, back to a human village after said human winds up dead. All Asgore wants is to collect seven human souls to break the barrier and free his people. Asgore clearly doesn't love the fact that he killed six innocent humans, in fact his boss fight reflects that fact when he destroys the Mercy button needed to spare him (More on that in a minute (I've been saying that a lot lately)) but he knows that for the good of his people something like this needs to be done. He lost his children, his actions got him and his people sealed away, and now he's going to extreme lengths that he's not proud of to make everything right again. Pretty amazing character.

There are other interesting aspects in the story I could bring up, but I feel like I'd be spoiling more information for those who haven't played the game yet.

But, on the subject of characters, Undertale delivers a cast of very colorful and quirky characters. Excluding minor characters we have the sadistic Flowey, the laid back and pun loving Sans, his adorkable brother Papyrus, the loving and caring Toriel, the edgy yet also hilarious Undyne, the geeky Alphys, and the flamboyant robo-host Mettaton. All of these characters are so memorable and they work off of each other very well. This game has so many funny moments that this chapter will go on for much longer than needed if I listed them all. Let's just say this game will tickle you in your funny bone and leave it at that.

Gameplay is not only unique compared to other RPGs out there, but it also has a unique take on a karma system. Starting with the actual gameplay, you control a heart that's on the bottom of the screen as enemies rain down attacks in a bullet hell fashion. Dodge attacks that are white, stay still for attacks that are blue, move through attacks that are orange, and collect green attacks for some extra health.

Now for the karma system. In Undertale, there are three paths you can take: A Neutral Run, a Pacifist Run, and a Genocide Run. The Neutral Run is where you kill some but not all of the enemies, a Pacifist Run is if you kill no enemies, and Genocide Run is if you feel like being an utter bastard, summon your inner Judgment Day, and slaughter everything in sight. Suffice it to say, doing a Genocide Run is especially jarring if you've done a Pacifist run first.

In battle you get four options: Fight, Act, Item, and Mercy. Fight is self explanatory, attack the enemy to whittle down their health, and time your attack right for more damage. Item gives you healing items. And then there's Act and Mercy. The Mercy button allows you to spare whoever you're fighting, but you must select something from the Act menu before you can spare them. Like I said, Undertale's gameplay is unique and that's one of the things I love about it.

Finally, there's the presentation. The graphics for the most part look like they come from the Super Nintendo, giving it a classic game feel. Even the battle screens look like something out of Earthbound/Mother series. But I'm here to mainly talk about the music. Undertale has some of my favorite soundtracks in any game with some of my favorites being Waterfall for how atmospheric it is, Another Medium for the same reasons, The Core for being that song inspiring you to keep going at you inch closer to Asgore's castle, Undertale (the song not the game itself) as you learn about how the monsters wound up the Underground and the death of Asriel, and every boss theme for setting up a situation and matching the character's personality/current mindset at that point of the game.

Undertale is such an amazing game that inspired tons of memes, fan art, animations, etc. If you haven't played this game yet for whatever reason, please do so. It's on Steam, PS4, PS Vita, and recently the Nintendo Switch, so it's decently accessible now. It's a skele-ton of fun from beginning to end, filled with awesome moments, funny moments, sad moments, so many moments, this is one game that deserved every bit of fame and popularity that it got…yes especially the Mii costume in Smash Ultimate…I love Nintendo.


	14. Day 14: Ratchet & Clank (2016)

Day 14: Ratchet & Clank (PS4)

You guys want to hear a joke? Ratchet & Clank the Movie (2016). Fuck that movie, it's the worst movie I've ever seen. Don't watch it!

Well…at least we got a pretty awesome game out of it.

Being made to promote that train wreck of a movie, Insomniac Games decided to remake the first game of the series, base it loosely on the movie (thank fuck!), and the end result is one of the best games I've played on the PS4. Ratchet & Clank is one of many series I want to get more into, but I can safely that this is a great entry point in the series for anyone looking to get into it, and it got me interested in trying out the other entries.

Since this is a remake of the first Ratchet & Clank game, the games keeps a similar overall plot, but there are a few differences that set it apart from the original. A lombax named Ratchet wants to explore the galaxy, and both he and defective warbot Clank wish to join the Galactic Rangers to accomplish that goal. When they join however, they soon must face off against Chairmen Drek and his scientist Doctor Nefarious, who seek to destroy planets and use the debris of those planets to make a brand new planet for him and his people. It's now up to Ratchet, Clank, Captain Quark, and the other Galactic Rangers to put a stop to Drek and Nefarious' evil plans and save the Solana Galaxy.

It's your typical galaxy in peril story that's no stranger to something like Star Wars, but the story does its job just fine, especially when it's told through beautifully animated cutscenes that come straight from the movie…yes, I like the animation that the Ratchet & Clank movie had, that's the one thing I have to praise it for, but that's it. Outside of the cutscenes, the game itself is very colorful and full of life. Every planet you visit in this game is pleasing to the eyes and fun to go through and explore…while also blasting away at everything in sight.

Speaking of which, Ratchet & Clank 2016 plays out like a Third Person Shooter/3D platformer hybrid. There are instances where you do some platforming, but ultimately you're using your vast arsenal to take out any and all threats that stand in your way. The weapons Ratchet uses are also very fun to use. Most of the weapons already appeared in previous games, both the original trilogy on PS2 and the newer games on PS3, so it's nice to see them come back. There are two new weapons that this game introduces that, like the older weapons, are a blast to use (Pun entirely intended). There's the Pixelizer which turns any enemy that gets hit by it to turn into pixels, and the Proton Drum which throws out an orb which emits shockwaves that hurt enemies that go near it. While I haven't played most of the other Ratchet & Clank games, I can safely say that this is a fun set of weapons to unleash Armageddon upon, and it gets better when you upgrade them.

Other than platforming and shooting, there are other smaller modes to play with like hoverboard racing, dogfights, and occasional moments where you play as Clank to solve puzzles.

It's almost like Ratchet & Clank (2016) is a perfect melding of every game in the series: Using the first game as a base, and then elements from the other games to build upon it, with the usual brand of humor these games are known for, giving us an enjoyable experience that I can recommend to any Ratchet & Clank fan or fan of Third-Person Shooters.

If the remake of the first game in the series turned out this great, I'm hoping Insomniac remakes the other two games in the trilogy and then some…just, please, nobody make another movie. One is enough to ruin my life.


	15. Day 15: DKC Tropical Freeze

Day 15: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Oh, banana! Oops, wrong Donkey Kong game. But still, this is a good Donkey Kong game nonetheless. This is Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, yet another game released on the ill fated Wii U that managed to find itself a new home on the Nintendo Switch, and with new Funky Mode too.

The story here is that a band of arctic animals known as the Snowmads travel to Donkey Kong Island and freeze it, making it a new home for the Snowmads while simultaneously kicking out Donkey, Diddy, Dixie, and Cranky Kong as they are sent to a far away island known as the Lost Mangroves. It's now up to the four Kongs to travel back to the now frozen Donkey Kong Island, take on the Snowmad leader, and reclaim their home.

Since this adventure now has you bringing along not only Diddy Kong, but also Dixie and Cranky, the gameplay makes sure to take full advantage of that fact. Diddy Kong can still use his jetpack to fly over large gaps, but Dixie Kong can not only do that, but also give you some extra high if you're trying to reach a high up platform. Suffice it to say Dixie Kong is the Kong that I, as well as many others I'm sure, use the most. As for Cranky Kong, he's basically Scrooge McDuck from Ducktales, using his cane to traverse areas that Donkey Kong wouldn't normally be able to walk across.

The three Kongs also have their own screen nuke attack once Donkey Kong manages to collect enough bananas. Diddy Kong can turn enemies into balloons for extra lives, Dixie Kong can turn enemies into extra hit points (just another reason why you'll find yourself using Dixie more than the others) and Cranky Kong can turn enemies into banana coins for you to spend at the shop.

The Switch Version of the game also introduced Funky Kong as a playable character, and he's clearly meant for those just getting into the Donkey Kong Country series…or just someone looking to cheese this game in the funkiest way possible. Funky Kong has a double jump, can breathe underwater, can perform endless roll attacks, has five hit points, can hover in the air with his surfboard, and the standout feature, he is able to walk across spiked floors. Damn, who knew a character like Funky Kong would end up being one of the most OP characters in the series.

If you don't feel like playing as him, Funky still fulfills the role as shop keep like in the previous game, where you can spend the banana coins I mentioned earlier, and the items you can buy here are pretty much the same as the last game. You can buy Squawks the Parrot to look for any puzzle pieces you might have missed in a level, more DK barrels, 1-ups, Heart Boosts and Banana Juice for more health, and Crash Guards to defend yourself from enemies for at least two hits. These are all very helpful items to have especially since this game shares the difficulty of the other Donkey Kong Country games, in other words this game is ball crackingly difficult at points, especially in the secret temples of each level and the final level known as Secret Seclusion.

Speaking of the levels let's talk about them for a bit, because we have some interesting themes going on here. The Lost Mangroves may start out as a desert island setting, but Autumn Heights looks like it's set in the Swiss Alps. Bright Savannah is, what else, a savannah that starts out pretty normal, but gets crazier as we venture through a thunderstorm, and then a part of the savannah that's on fire. Sea Breeze Cove is…just another water level. Juicy Jungle takes place in some kind of juicing facility in the jungle. And finally the frozen over Donkey Kong Island, a once warm beach location, now turned frozen, desolate wasteland thanks to the Snowmads. This level even becomes a fire level towards the end as you venture into Donkey Kong Island's volcano. Nice way to mix fire and ice elements, Nintendo.

Tropical Freeze also adds secret exits to unlock hidden levels, giving the game a little bit of replay value to go back through and scour the levels. The K-O-N-G letters and puzzle pieces return to add a bit more replay value in case you missed them on your first run through. The mine cart levels and rocket barrel levels make a return, and they're just as fun as before, especially the mine cart level known as Sawmill Thrill (A.K.A best mine cart level ever). Finally, the bosses in this game are some of the most fun and challenging the series has ever had. Seriously, I don't think I hate a single boss in this game. Even the one I deem my least favorite (Fugu) is one can just easily shrug off and have at least a little bit of fun with.

Throw in some nice in-game graphics and even better cut scenes and we have, in my opinion, the best Donkey Kong Country game so far. If you're a fan of challenging but fair platformers, then Donkey Kong Country is definitely a game you have to pick up some time. It's a game as fun as a barrel full of monkeys, and I'm very much looking forward to whatever adventure the big ape has in store for the future.


	16. Day 16: Sly 2 Band of Thieves

Day 16: Sly 2 Band of Thieves

Back in the days of the Playstation 2, Sony released three franchises, all of which are well known for their platforming. There's Jak and Daxter, which I need to play more of, Ratchet and Clank, which I've already talked about my favorite game in the series the other day, and the last one being Sly Cooper, with my favorite of his PS2 games being his second entry: Sly 2 Band of Thieves.

Being set after the first game in the series, Sly 2 follows Sly, Bentley, and Murray as they go on a hunt for Clockwerk's, the main villain of the last games, parts so they can destroy them and ruin his chances on being resurrected and to have him no longer be a threat to Sly and his gang. Yeah, Sly beats Clockwerk to pieces and leaves him to burn in lava, yet the parts still work just fine…only in video games.

However, when they get to the museum holding the Clockwerk parts, they find said parts missing and they soon discover that they were taken for the nefarious purposes of this game's new villain(s), The Klaww Gang. Now Sly and his gang must travel around the world in search of The Klaww Gang and the Clockwerk parts before anymore trouble begins.

Characters returning from the last game are still the same personality wise. Sly is still the sneaky, cunning, and level headed thief who is known for his stealth. Bentley is still the brains of the group. Murray is still the same big loveable oaf he was in the first game, although he has become more courageous in this game, but we'll talk about that when we get to the gameplay. And Carmelita is still the cop determined to capture Sly and bring him to justice.

_**SPOILERS DEAD AHEAD**_

But then we get to The Klaww Gang, in my opinion the best villains the Sly franchise has ever had. This organization consists of…

Dimitri Lousteau: a former aspiring artist who, after failing to impress the public with his "kinetic aesthetic" art design, wound up making forged masterpieces to spite art critics, and eventually opened up a nightclub in Paris. He's the gang member in possession of the Clockwerk feathers, but they're for his own personal use so he can use them to make counterfeit money.

Rajan: A former black market spice trader who expanded his business, making him the gang's spice manufacturer. He's the gang member in possession of the Clockwerk wings, which he used to show off his wealth, along with his new palace, to the public of India, as well as the Clockwerk heart, which he used to boost the production of his spices.

The Contessa: A member of the Klaww Gang working undercover as an Interpol agent who majored in criminal psychology, and after marrying and (most likely) murdering a wealthy aristocrat, inherited his estate and opened up rehabilitation clinics for criminals, where she used hypnosis to cure them of their illegal urges. As soon as she joined the gang, however, she used that same hypnosis to make criminals tell her where their loot was hidden. Her main method of hypnotizing her subjects was through the Clockwerk eyes.

Jean Bison: A member of the gang who hails all the way from 1852, during the Canadian Gold Rush, who winds up freezing himself after trying to blow up the side of a mountain in search of gold. Now thawed out, Bison seeks revenge on mother nature by using the Clockwerk talons to tear down trees and damming rivers. He also is in possession of the Clockwerk lungs and stomach, which he uses to power his steam locomotives.

And finally, Arpeggio: The leader of the Klaww Gang who seeks the Clockwerk parts so he can reassemble them and gain immortality. He basically waited until the Cooper gang collected all of the parts so he could take them all right from under them. Arpeggio is a patient villain, and that patience almost paid off. Why almost, I'll explain in a bit, but first, the general gist of The Klaww Gang's plan.

In the first game, Clockwerk's immortality was fueled by the hatred he had for Sly and his family. For Arpeggio to get that same effect when he merges with Clockwerk's body, he needs to generate enough hate to get results. The spice that Rajan grew makes those who consume it not only susceptible to hypnosis but also very angry. Arpeggio wants to hypnotize the people of Paris, in other words those who ate food at Dimitri's nightclub which was laced with spice, into hating each other so Arpeggio gets the hate generator he needs for his plan to work. But in order for the Parisians to be hypnotized, Arpeggio, taking a note out of The Contessa's playbook, needs something with enough light frequencies to hypnotize people, and that's why Jean Bison collected the energy from the Northern Lights in Canada so Arpeggio had something to hypnotize the people with.

So, pretty much, here's a Cliff Note version: Rajan grows the spice, Jean Bison transports the spice, and Dimitri distributes the spice to those in his nightclub. By using The Contessa's blueprints, and the Northern Light energy Bison collected, Arpeggio can hypnotize those who ate the spice into hating each other, thus generating enough hate for him to merge with Clockwerk's body and gain the immortality he craves.

This is a rather complex plan for an E rated game (E 10+ but it was rated E back then) made all the more complex when you compare the alleged spice to drugs and The Klaww Gang is a drug cartel. While the plan is complex, it's at least easy to understand, and I really like this plan as it makes The Klaww Gang really interesting to follow. However, there is one more villain that I'm neglecting to mention, and she is without a doubt one of the most evil characters the series has ever had. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Constable Neyla:

Much like the Contessa, she's a member of the Klaww Gang, Arpeggios' protégé in fact, who is working undercover for Interpol. At first she appears to be on the good side, helping out Carmelita and secretly helping Sly and his gang when they're trying to steal the Clockwerk parts. But this is all a ruse so she could eventually backstab the gang and Carmelita, and with Carmelita out of the picture, this made Neyla the only officer at Interpol close enough to the case, and she took full advantage by hiring her own private military to take The Contessa down. After The Contessa is defeated by Sly, she ends up taking full credit, giving her a promotion to Captain as a result. Fastforward to the end of the game when Arpeggio is ready merge himself with Clockwerk and then…

**(Neyla betrays Arpeggio by knocking him off his bird cage)**

**Neyla: Stupid Arpeggio, I double crossed the Cooper Gang, Interpol, and Carmelita. What made you think I wouldn't do the same to you. **

**(Proceeds to merge **_**herself **_**to Clockwerk) **

Yeah, Neyla was just using The Klaww Gang and Arpeggio as a means to an end so she could be the one to gain immortality. Neyla is someone who doesn't care who she has to step on on her way up to the top, as long as she not only gets there, but is the one to get there first, and a part of me just loves her for it. Call Neyla a Love-to-Hate Villain if you will. She pledges allegiance to no one but herself, you hate everything that she does, you hate the fact she backstabs everyone and anyone to get what she wants, but that's why I love her as a villain.

_**SPOILERS OVER**_

So, in short, Band of Thieves has an interesting cast of villains, but I've talked about them long enough (Seriously talking about them alone has filled up a whole page and then some). Let's talk about the gameplay next.

The first two things you may notice is…

A: Sly and the Gang have a health bar now, thank God! In the first game, unless you had a horseshoe, you die in one hit, so this is a welcome change.

B: The levels are all open world as opposed to a small hub world with paths that take you to each mission. All missions take place in whatever variety of open world you're visiting, whether they be the streets of Paris, the jungles of India, the Canadian wilderness, the gloomy streets of Prague, or Arpeggio's blimp.

Throughout each open world are the clue bottles which return from the last game. Once you find all of them, look for the vault to give Sly an extra power. These powers range from giving him attacks that'll allow guards to attack each other, give his cane a one-hit kill attack, give him a music box that'll make guards fall asleep and more.

There are even more power-ups in this game that you can buy with all of the coins you collect in each level including Sly's trusty paraglider, which was introduced in this game BTW.

Another interesting this about the gameplay is how Bentley and Murray are now playable characters with their own missions.

Sly can walk along ledges and walk across tightropes while attacking enemies with his cane.

Bentley attacks but putting enemies to sleep with his darts and throwing bombs, and he's the one to hack into whatever technology the villains are using. The hacking process is a pretty cool minigame that would find itself right at home in an old arcade shoot 'em up.

Murray, now no longer behind the wheel of the Cooper van and no longer easily scared, is the muscle of the group, and he proves it by pummeling any and all enemies with his fists. Murray is also the one in charge of the game's vehicle sections like the tank or helicopter. Most of them are pretty fun…but the tank section in Chapter 5 can go burn in a fire.

In short, all three characters are fun to play as and have enough different in their play styles that make them feel different from each other.

And to top it all off are some colorful cell-shaded graphics that'll find themselves right at home in a comic book or cartoon series, and some rather atmospheric music that matches whatever environment you're going through.

Sly 2: Band of Theives has so much going for it that it makes me wonder how this is only my _second _favorite game in the Sly series. Well, that's easy…I just enjoyed my actual favorite a little bit more. What that game is, you'll know it when you see it. Despite Band of Thieves being only my second favorite game in the series, however, it's definitely one I'll gladly play again.


	17. Day 17: Uncharted 2 Among Thieves

Day 17: Uncharted 2 Among Thieves

"**Well, seeing that we talked about Sucker Punch's badass treasure hunter yesterday, how about we talk about Naughty Dog's take on a similar character in the Uncharted series. But which one to talk about today?"**

**Lyra: Look alive, jerk!**

**(Lyra throws an Uncharted game at my head)**

"**Will you stop throwing games at my head!"**

**Lyra: I'll stop when you make another chapter!**

"**Whatever! Let's just see what you gave me."**

**(I look to see Uncharted 2 Among Thieves)**

"**Let's do it!"**

Uncharted 2 Among Thieves is another great example on how to do a video game sequel. Namely taking elements from the first game and making them even better. How does Uncharted 2 do better? Well, let's see: You have villains that are more memorable than the first game, set pieces that are more memorable than the first game, and gameplay that's more fair than the first game. Yeah, I'd say we have a pretty good sequel on our hands.

The story follows Nathan Drake as he and his partners, Victor Sullivan, Elena Fisher, and new character Chloe Frazer, as they search for a treasure in the ancient city of Shambhala. However, the villains of this game, Zoran Lazarevic and his associate Harry Flynn (who so happened to be an associate of Drake's at one point), are looking for the treasure too. The treasure in question that the villains are looking for is sap from a tree in Shambhala called the Tree of Life so Lazarevic can consume it and become immortal. Now it's up to Drake and his friends to stop Lazarevic before he accomplishes his goal. This story is very Indiana Jones esque, but then again this is Uncharted, a game series where you play as a badass treasure hunter, so it's only expected that this game would be inspired by it somewhat.

Like I said, the set pieces in this game are a huge upgrade when compared to the first game which is primarily set in the jungle. Among Thieves does have Drake trek through jungles and ancient ruins, but now he's making his way through ice caves, museums, villages and cities, and of course the ancient city of Shambhala, all of which look amazing. Seriously the graphics in this game are among the best on the Playstation 3, and while I haven't played the Nathan Drake Collection on PS4 yet, I can imagine that they look even better on there.

Most of this game's action sequences also give off a feeling that the stakes can get really high. There's one part in the game where you have to hide from one of Lazarevic's tanks that's destroying a Tibetan village. The game ends with a fight between Drake and Lazarevic as the city of Shamahla is pretty much falling apart. The game starts with Drake in a train wreck in the Tibetan mountains. Naughty Dog really knocked it out of the park when it came to level design.

The new characters this game introduces are also really cool. Lazarevic is a cold and calculating war criminal whose intimidation you feel every moment he's on screen. Harry Flynn takes a page out of Neyla's playbook and is quick to backstab Nathan Drake early on in the game, though at least he has some respect as he doesn't intend on turning on Lazarevic…whether that's because he actually respects him or he's afraid he'd kill him if he tried you be the judge. Chloe Frazer is the double agent who chooses to help Drake and company, while pretending to be on Lazarevic's side. And there's also Tenzin, the leader of a Tibetan village who helps Nathan Drake in his quest.

Gameplay is simple, yet effective for the game Uncharted 2 is. You see an enemy, you shoot him with whatever weapon you have. On that note, Uncharted 2 has a pretty good collection of weapons at your disposal. Contemporary weapons, explosive weapons, all for the sole purpose of stop Lazarevic's plans. Furthermore, on the subject of the enemies, fighting them feels more fair when compared to the first game. In the first game, they had perfect aim and there was so many of them. Here they don't hit you as often or as hard, most likely due to the improved cover system, and there's not as many enemies to take out in a single area.

To wrap this up, by adding new and more interesting characters, creating bigger and more beautiful set pieces and story, upgrading the gameplay, and giving us the best graphics the PS3 could muster, Uncharted 2 Among Thieves is among the best PS3 games and my second favorite Uncharted game.


	18. Day 18: Pikmin 2

Day 18: Pikmin 2

I'm not a huge fan of strategy games, but if I ever feel like playing one I can guarantee you that 99% of the time that the strategy game I'll be playing is Pikmin 2.

Set immediately after the first game, Pikmin 2 follows Olimar and newcomer Louie as they try and solve Hocotate Freight's debt problems by going back to the Pikmin Planet and collecting items that they believe will net them loads of money, or Pokos as this game calls it. However, halfway through the game, Louie and Olimar end up getting separated and now the President of Hocotate Freight has to join the mission to save Louie. Will Hocoate Freight get rid of its horrendous debt? Will Louie be saved from dangers that the Pikmin Planet possesses? The answer to both is yes.

One unique aspect I like about the four locations you visit is how they're all based on each of the four seasons. Valley of Repose captures the cold and desolate feeling of winter. Awakening Wood captures the beauty and color of spring. Perplexing Pool captures the lively atmosphere of summer. And the Wistful Wild captures the crisp atmosphere and color of autumn.

In each overworld you can harvest more Pikmin by collecting Pellet Posies or defeating enemies, open the way for new objectives, or create the new Purple or Red Potions which you get from berries growing out of Burgeoning Spiderworts. The red potion makes your Pikmin move faster and hit harder while the purple potion stuns enemies and may even drop more potions or nectar to flower your Pikmin if they are defeated when stunned.

On that note let's talk about the Pikmin. Much like last game, you want to flower as many of these little buggers as you can because that's how they move faster and hit harder without the use of a red potion. Also, the A.I of the Pikmin in this game I feel is much more reliable than in the previous entry.

The Red, Yellow, and Blue Pikmin return from the last game. Red Pikmin hit hard and can withstand fire attacks. Yellow Pikmin can be thrown higher and can withstand electric attacks. Blue Pikmin are able to breath underwater and withstand water attacks. And then there's the two new Pikmin introduced: The Purple and White Pikmin. The Purple Pikmin hit even harder than Red Pikmin, even having a homing attack when you throw them, and they're able to stun larger enemies at the cost of being slower than the rest of the Pikmin. White Pikmin are super agile, can withstand poison attacks, are able to see buried items, and if they're eaten then they actually do damage to the enemy that ate them. It's nice to see the Yellow Pikmin get more use and the two new Pikmin species also add variety to the gameplay.

As stated before, you are tasked with gathering items scattered around these four locations of the Pikmin Planet, and you can get them by solving puzzles (some of which really require strategy and thinking skills), finding them hidden in hard to reach areas, or by defeating enemies. All of these items all mirror real life items in some way like brand name bottle caps or snacks, and they usually have some quirky or funny name given to them that adds to this game's overall charm.

Treasures can also be found in this game's new mechanic: The dungeons. These are small levels found in each hubworld that are separated into multiple sublevels and they are riddled with tons of obstacles and enemies. Some of the combinations that these enemies and obstacles are in as well as the overall layout of the sublevel will really test your strategy skills, especially in the dungeons later in the game. These dungeons even go out of their way to test your reflexes and quick thinking skills as they throw traps your way. These traps range from rock slides, enemy spawns, or bombs.

At the end of each dungeon, you get a new ability for Olimar, Louie, and the President to use on the field. These abilities can range from better tolerance to fire and electric attacks. Higher defense, the ability to light up dark areas, increase the range of your whistle to call Pikmin, the ability to call Pikmin that are in the ground, and more. These items are just another way to spice up Pikmin 2's already fun gameplay.

One last thing I like about this game's gameplay is what it does with the time limit. In most Pikmin games, you have about 15 minutes to do whatever you need to do in the overworlds before the sun goes down and the day ends. In Pikmin 1 and 3, you are on a 30 day time limit and food supply limit respectively. In Pikmin 2, there is no such thing meaning you can take your sweet time to do whatever you need to do, so this game is a bit more forgiving than its sequel and predecessor when it comes to the time limit.

And if you thought the main story didn't have too much to do, this game also offers a challenge mode where you go in with a certain number and type of Pikmin, and you have to beat the dungeon and collect the treasures before time runs out. Some of these challenge levels can get really hard and they really test your skills with this game.

In conclusion, Pikmin 2 is an amazing strategy game that I can recommend to anyone who is a fan of the genre. I may not be a fan of the genre myself, and I am aware I'm missing out on some of the great series of this genre, but I say give me Pikmin 2 and that's all I'll need to get my strategic fix.


	19. Day 19: Rayman Legends

Day 19: Rayman Legends

You know, Ubisoft, you have a perfectly good mascot just sitting there waiting for you to make him a new game.

**Lyra: And **_**you **_**have a perfectly good set of characters waiting for you to make them a new chapter.**

"**I'm working on it, okay!"**

**Lyra: (Threatening) Work faster!**

**(I throw one of the games already talked about at Lyra's head)**

"**Yeah, doesn't feel so good having shit thrown at you does it?"**

Anyway, the punch line of my opening is that the next game I'll be talking about is Rayman Legends.

So what's the story? Well, after the events of Rayman Origins, Rayman, Globox, and the playable Teensies have gone into a century long sleep (DAMN!) and the nightmares from the last game have come back stronger and in greater numbers. On top of that, the main villain from the last game known as The Magician has split himself up into five dark teensies and kidnapped the other teensies and the game's new playable characters, Barbara and her princess sisters. Rayman's friend Murfy enters the scene to tell him and his friends to wake up and get ready to kick names and take ass.

Not the most robust story in the world, but that's okay because the gameplay more than makes up for it.

First off, there are tons of playable characters for you to choose from like Rayman, Globox, the Teensies, and Barbara and her sisters. They even offer cosmetic costumes for your character (Mario-Rayman and Luigi-Globox are my favorites)

This game, much like many other platformers I've talked about, is very much a Collect-a-thon as there are plenty of lums for you to collect and get a high score, Teensies for you to free, and secret doors that lead to a bonus area to free a Teensie.

Of course since this is a 2D platformer there are plenty of platforming stages that'll test your skills with the genre, as well as the abilities that have carried over from Rayman Origins such as the wall run, punching, swimming, changing size, and hovering in mid-air.

The level design is always built around these mechanics, and on the subject of the level's I can safely say that they have interesting themes and set pieces made all the more eye catching thanks to the vibrant and cartoony graphics. These levels include enchanted forests, a level made up of Mexican cuisine, an underwater level that looks like Bioshock, and a take on Ancient Greece. All of these levels are usually followed by a fun boss fight and a fun yet challenging chase after one of the Dark Teensies.

There are also stages where you get to control Murfy as whatever character you were currently playing as, and the game suddenly becomes a puzzle-platformer where you use Murfy to take down obstacles and enemies.

But by far the level style everyone remembers are the music levels where the player hears a well known rock song and has to jump/punch to the beat. Among these songs are Ram Jam's 'Black Betty,' Survivor's 'Eye of the Tiger,' and Trust's 'Antisocial.' These are by far the most fun levels in the game, made all the more challenging with the Livid Dead Party levels where you have to play through those same music stages with effects like a flickering screen, 8-bit graphics, etc. I could personally take them or leave them as the constant distractions can naturally lead to some rather unfair deaths.

On the subject of challenge, once you've beaten a level, you can always go back and do what they call 'Invaded Levels' where you have sixty seconds to save at least one of three Teensies. To save all three, it requires that you know the level inside and out…which is hard given you're most likely playing the level backwards. I find this to be an interesting challenge to see how well you know the level you just played through and how well you've gotten to know this game's mechanics.

And if all of this wasn't enough for you, this game introduces other modes like Kung Foot, which is basically Rayman Soccer, leader board challenges, and you can even play through levels that were in Rayman Origins.

Rayman Legends packs so much in one package that it's hard not to like it. This is easily my favorite game in the franchise so far, and I sincerely hope Ubisoft gives their Assassin's Creed and Tom Clancy games a rest for a little bit just to focus on making another Rayman game.


	20. Day 20: inFamous 2

Day 20: inFamous 2

You know what's fun? Sandbox games! Those games that give you a big open world to either do missions in or just fuck around, yeah, those are sandbox games. How do you make Sandbox games even more fun? By adding superpowers of course! Enter inFamous 2.

Set after the first inFamous game, inFamous 2 follows Cole MacGrath, his friend Zeke Dunbar, and an NSA agent Lucy Kuo as they travel to New Marais to defeat an entity known as The Beast with a Ray Sphere that Kuo has been working on. Upon arriving to New Marais, Cole and company end up getting tangled into the business of a corrupt politician known as Joseph Bertrand and his Militia, and he eventually runs into a woman known as Nix who wants revenge on Bertrand for killing her family. Now Cole and company have to put an end to Bertrand's treachery while also preparing for The Beast's arrival to New Marias…oh and there's also something of a coronavirus like plague that's threatening the lives of millions, that's something to be aware of too. A lot going on in this game.

New Marais is an interesting overworld, being based on New Orleans. They even have an area known as Flood Town which is based on the areas of the city affected by Hurricane Katrina. It's a big city overworld with missions to do, a lot of side things, blast shards to collect to gain more power, and some rather funny Easter Eggs to other video games in the city's Red Light District.

I'll be honest, I haven't played the first inFamous game but from what I've heard the enemies suffer the same problem as the first Uncharted game did with their enemies. By which I mean the enemies are annoying as fuck to deal with due to the pinpoint accuracy of their attacks. I'm here to report that from what I've experienced with inFamous 2 the enemies aren't all that bad to deal with. Sure you get the occasional Ice Titan but nothing too bad. So if the cheap enemies from the first game are true then, boom, already something is improved from the first game.

One thing I definitely do know about the first game is how it operates on a karma system. Doing things in the overworld like helping injured civilians, stopping muggings, rescuing people from the Militia, or defusing bombs can net you good karma, while beating up police officers, stealing blast shards from civilians, and taking out protestors and street performers can net you bad karma.

Certain story events also add to your level of karma. At certain points in the game, you must choose to either side with Kuo, who will give you more good karma, or Nix, who will give you bad karma. Furthermore, depending on who you originally side with will determine what type of powers Cole gets beyond his electric attacks. Siding with Kuo will give Cole ice powers, while siding with Nix will give him fire powers, and you can unlock more abilities as you progress through the game, and more attacks to unleash havoc on Bertrand's Militia, the Corrupted, and the Vermaak 88…or you could just wack them with your melee weapon The Amp, whatever works.

The last thing I want to talk about with this game is its characters, more specifically, the chemistry between Cole and Zeke. Again, I haven't played the first game so I can't say much about their friendship there, but due to their chemistry in this game I can believe that they are true friends, especially since Zeke is always ready to help Cole out in his quest. I could bring up their tranquil moment of watching T.V on the rooftop which just shows two friends hanging out amidst some chaotic events, but I'd rather bring up two separate moments:

There's one mission where Cole gets captured by Bertrand's goons, and here comes Zeke who takes the Militia on _by himself and wins!_ This leads to one of my favorite interactions in the game

**Cole: Hey, uh, Zeke…I've been treating you like shit. I'm…I'm sorry man.**

**Zeke: I screwed you over pretty hard back in Empire. Forget it, man. **

**Cole: No. You've always got my back. Thank you.**

**Zeke: Look. I don't call you 'brother' because I like the way it sounds.**

Both Cole and Zeke are aware of the mistakes they made and own up to them, and Zeke views Cole as if he were a brother. That's pretty awesome. And then there's what happens when you get the Good Ending. After Cole sacrifices himself to destroy The Beast, Zeke takes his body back to Empire City and gives us these final words as the game draws to a close.

**Zeke: I wanted to say goodbye to him alone. He was my best friend, and now he was gone. Sometimes, I hear folks talking about Conduits and humans like they're totally different. That's bullshit. Because there ain't nobody with more humanity than Cole MacGrath. I love you brother…and I'm sure going to miss you.**

Zeke and Cole have one of the best friendships I've seen in any video game…which makes it all the more sad when the two end up fighting in the Evil Route. Yeah, I have yet to play inFamous 2's Evil Route and I'm not sure I'm ready to given this is a thing. The other characters are all very memorable and likeable in their own way…except for Bertrand just…fuck that guy.

With fun and engaging gameplay, a big overworld to explore, interesting and at some points heartwarming story (If we're taking the Good Route that is), and likeable characters, inFamous 2 is a game that will be famous in the PS3 library.


	21. Day 21: Sonic Colors

Day 21: Sonic Colors

You know what they say, 'Reach for the Stars!'

**Sonic: No copyright law in the universe is going to stop me!**

Ah, yes, what many people consider to be the first legitimately good Sonic game in a long time: Sonic Colors. A bit of personal information, but this is actually the first Sonic game I've ever played and boy, this is one hell of a game to start with…I mean that in a good way of course.

When Sonic and Tails hear that Eggman has reformed by opening up 'Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park,' they decide to visit it to see if Eggman really has turned a new leaf. Sometime later, and the two discover that Eggman has enslaved a race of aliens known as the Wisps, and he plans on using their energy to create a mind control lazer which will finally allow him to take over the world. Now Sonic and Tails must venture through the amusement park and the five planets/attractions surrounding it to put a stop to Eggman's plans yet again.

Now that we have the story out of the way, let's talk about the graphics because holy shit they are amazing! Every level is so colorful (No pun intended) and pops out in the best possible way. They all just have so much life put into them and even darker levels like Asteroid Coaster feel alive with everything going on around Sonic here. No joke this is probably one of the best looking Wii games ever made and I can easily understand if someone mistakes it for a PS3 or 360 game.

On the subject of the levels I believe that these are some of the best Sonic levels we've had in the whole franchise, and that's mainly because it tries to cater to both 3D and 2D Sonic fans by having 3D and 2D segments in each level. All of them are very fun to go through. As for the levels themselves, my favorites have to be Tropical Resort for being a fun intro stage that teaches you about the gameplay, especially the return boost mechanic from Unleashed, Starlight Carnival simply for the environment and the cool auto-run sections that have you running along paths of light, and Aquarium Park for being an actual good water level in the Sonic series. By double jumping, Sonic can swim and if he has enough boost power he can make like Jesus Christ himself and run along the water surface.

Another reason why I believe people like this game is because no other Sonic characters are present beyond Sonic, Tails, and Eggman and his robot assistants, Orbot and Cubot. I personally don't mind the franchise's other characters, but if you're someone who does then, cool, this is the Sonic game for you.

Another interesting thing about this game is that the final boss isn't fought with Super Sonic. I mean, it's a fun fight and there _is _a Super Sonic form, you just have to collect them from this sort of minigame area called Game Land. If you collect enough Red Rings in the main game, that'll open up more levels and beating them will give you the Chaos Emeralds. These challenges are very fun to go through and they even allow multiplayer.

Lastly, I want to talk about the main gameplay mechanic: the wisps! These colorful little aliens are here to aid Sonic on his journey and they are all very fun to use.

White wisps give Sonic more boost power to run fast.

Cyan wisps turn Sonic into a lazer that'll allow him to zip around the area and ricochet off of walls and enemies, and even take him to new areas by using it on prisms and optical cables.

Yellow wisps allow Sonic to dig underground in search of more rings, and in Aquarium Park they allow Sonic to swim faster, and this wisp power can take Sonic to secret areas if he goes through certain pipes.

Orange wisps turn Sonic into a rocket that'll propel him high into the air, allowing him to reach places that are otherwise impossible to reach.

Blue wisps turn Sonic into a cube that creates a shockwave that takes out nearby enemies, and it even turns the game into a bit of a puzzle platformer by turning Blue Rings into Blue Blocks for Sonic to climb and vice versa.

Pink wisps turn Sonic into a spike ball that allows him to climb up walls and ceilings.

Green wisps give Sonic the power to fly, and acts as this game's equivalent to the Light Speed Dash. Just press the designated button in front of a line of rings and watch Sonic fly.

Finally there's the Purple wisp, which turn Sonic into a vicious beast that eats everything in sight, and he grows bigger with each thing he eats.

All of these wisps are fun to use and are great ways to spice up the gameplay.

So with great graphics, an easy to follow story that still manages to be entertaining thanks to the writers of Mad World, and very engaging gameplay, Sonic Colors is easily one of the best Sonic games we've gotten in recent years.

Real quick though, I've got to know something. If there were five words one could use to describe this game, what would they be?

**GOOD! GREAT! AWESOME! OUTSTANDING! **_**AMAZING!**_

Indeed.


	22. Day 22: Pokemon ORAS

Day 22: Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire

Let's talk about Pokemon Generation 3. This particular generation of Pokemon holds a special place in my heart as Pokemon Emerald was the first Pokemon game I've ever played and it left a good impression on me. I'll never forget sweeping everything with my Sceptile, exploring the world of Hoenn and battling trainers, it was just a fun experience all around. So when Nintendo announced they'd be remaking Generation 3 on 3DS, do you think I was hyped as hell?

Uh…duh!

Now this is how you make an already great game even greater. Just take the original Ruby and Sapphire, give it the mechanics that were introduced since then like Physical/Special Split, Fairy type, Unlimited TMs, and Mega Evolutions, and make a story that ties in with the lore of the franchise. Speaking of the story let's talk about it…

The story in Pokemon ORAS is similar to every other main series Pokemon game: Go from town to town collecting eight gym badges to challenge the Pokemon League Elite Four and Champion, battling a series of trainers along the way, all while stopping either Team Aqua or Team Magma depending on which version you're playing from expanding the sea or expanding the land respectively, and then try and stop some cataclysmic event as a result of the evil team's chaos. Same shit different generation. But here's one thing that's totally different…

Pokemon ORAS made up for X and Y's lack of a proper aftergame by giving us the Delta Episode. A mini-story that adds another few hours or so to the story where the player and new character Zinnia have to stop a meteor from colliding with earth by using Rayquazza to destroy it! This aftergame also gives us a lot of character development from Aqua and Magma Admins Matt and Courtney respectively, and I really like Zinnia's character too. I don't know what it is, whether it's her backstory, her role in the Delta Episode, or her character design, but something about Zinnia sticks with me.

On the subject of character development, I really like what Nintendo did with the character Wally, turning him from a shy and sickly young boy, to a confident young man who wants to be a great Pokemon trainer. You could argue that that's his same personality in the original games, but in ORAS, with updated graphics, animations, and music (WALLY HAS HIS OWN BADASS BATTLE THEME!) that point becomes much more apparent. I also really like the relationship the player character shares with his rival May/Brendan depending on who you're playing as. The friendship here seems so much more real and adorable, and dare I say…almost romantic at points.

Enough about the characters and story, let's talk about the gameplay, specifically with the mechanic Generation 6 introduced: Mega Evolutions. Nintendo added _a lot_ more. On top of returning ones we now have Sceptile, Swampert, Sharpedo, Camerupt, Altaria, Salamence, Metagross, Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, Rayquazza, and the Eon Duo joining in on the fun. And that's only the a _few_ of the _Hoenn_ pokemon that got this treatment. I haven't even begun to talk about Pidgeot, Steelix, Gallade, hell, even pokemon that used to suck like Sableye, Beedrill, Glalie, Audino, and Lopunny are actually fun to use now due to Mega Evolutions.

There are more aspects to love about the gameplay beyond that. Once the Delta Episode is over, you can go around and catch other legendary Pokemon courtesy of some strange portals, or screw around and fly around Hoenn on the backs of Latios/Latias. They even bring back Pokemon Contests and Pokeblocks for some more fun side content.

The Pokenav Plus on the bottom touch screen is also a nice touch. You can look at the map to see which trainers are up for a rematch, catch certain types of Pokemon, or even watch broadcasts that usually summarize events that you've done throughout the game.

And let's not forget the music! All of the great songs from the original games return and they all sound amazing, especially the battle themes of Maxie/Archie, Champion, and the brand new song for Wally. These songs are downright amazing and are up there as some of my favorite boss themes in gaming.

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire do so much to improve from the original games that it's without a doubt the best Pokemon remake we've gotten so far. Let's hope that whenever the Generation 4 remakes roll around they'll be even better than these.


	23. Day 23: Kirby's Return to Dreamland

Day 23: Kirby's Return to Dreamland

Kirby's Return to Dreamland, proof that the usual format of most handheld Kirby games can work just as well on a console.

The story begins with Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Waddle Dee enjoying their day when they spot a starship falling out of the sky. They check out the crash site and meet a strange alien called Magolor. Magolor tells Kirby and company that his starship, the Lor Starcutter, is missing a few of its parts and 120 Energy Spheres. So out of the kindness of their hards, Kirby and company must search Dreamland and surrounding areas on Planet Popstar to search for these items so Magolor can go back home to his home on Halcandra…which you can later visit and find a new villain in the form of Landia…who upon beating causes Magolor to take its crown and become a surprise twist villain who you have to chase down in a 2D shooting style level before one of the best final bosses in the franchise's history!

Yeah, compared to most other Kirby games I've played, the story gets a little bit off the rails and that can be all thanks to Magolor. When we first meet him, he's a friendly alien who Kirby is happy to help, so when this twist comes…I was legitimately surprised. It's not every Kirby game where there's a twist quite like this. Every other Kirby character is basically the same though, but you know what they say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it."

The levels are all colorful and fun to go through, as to be expected from a Kirby game, and I really like how industrial/mountainous Halcandra is. It's a nice change of pace from the green fields and blue waters of Dreamland and Popstar. Even the shooter section near the end of the game is fun and stage where the final battle takes place is amazing to look at.

The Lor Starcutter is also an interesting area as it not only serves a small hub area, but you can also take on Challenge Stages, gain access to modes like Ninja Dojo and Scope Shot, and a training area for you to train with certain Copy Abilities. Speaking of which let's talk about them for a bit because there's a lot of them to go over.

Among returning favorites like Sword, Tornado, Hammer, etc., Return to Dreamland also gives us Leaf Kirby, Water Kirby, Whip Kirby, and Spear Kirby, making the gameplay more engaging and giving you more ways to take out enemies.

On top of your usual copy abilities, Kirby's Return to Dreamland introduces Super Copy Abilities, which are basically super attacks used to take out obstacles and enemies, and they are flashy as hell. Kirby can either wield a giant sword, wield a giant hammer, launch a dragon shaped fire blast, turn into a giant snowball and roll over everything, or control a giant ball of energy. Making it to the end of a stage with these Super Copy Abilities gives you access to special stages where you can take on Sphere Doomers for more Energy Spheres. after a brief platforming challenge that puts your skills with the game to the test. On

On the subject of Energy Spheres, most of them are well hidden in each level and some of them require skills with certain copy abilities or Kirby's overall abilities. It's just really fun to search each level for them.

Like I said, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Waddle Dee join in on the fun, naturally making this a fun co-op game. But these three characters are vastly different from Kirby. King Dedede is essentially Hammer Kirby, Meta Knight is a combination of Sword and Wing Kirby, and Bandana Waddle Dee is Spear Kirby.

Add in a nice soundtrack, very fun boss battles, and franchise staples like The Arena and True Arena, and we have in my opinion Kirby's best console game and my second favorite game in the series overall.

Not bad for what was originally supposed to be a Gamecube Game…No seriously, Kirby's Return to Dreamland was in a development hell of, like, 11 years before finally getting released in late 2011 for the Wii. I guess good things really do come to those who wait.


	24. Day 24: Kingdom Hearts 3

Day 24: Kingdom Hearts 3

It took Square-Enix a total of 14 years to release this game, eight to announce it and six more to actually make it, but Kingdom Hearts 3 is another example on how good things really do come to those who wait. As a conclusion to what is called, "The Xehanort Saga," I feel that Kingdom Hearts 3 does a decent enough job tying up loose ends and providing a mostly satisfying conclusion. Why mostly, we'll get that in a minute, but first let's talk about the story.

In order to counteract Xehanort's plan to create the X-blade, Master Yen Sid instructs Sora, Donald, and Goofy to go look for the remaining seven guardians of light by figuring out where the likes of Ventus and Aqua went off to, with Riku and Mickey looking for the latter and Kairi and Axel, now known as Lea **(Got it memorized?) **undergoing keyblade training. Sora also has to figure out what happened to his power of waking, which is needed to resurrect Ventus. After the seven guardians of light are gathered, they along with Goofy and Donald head off for the final confrontation with Xehanort at the Keyblade Graveyard to hopefully stop his evil plans…or at least we thought they were evil.

Yeah, apparently Xehanort wanted give humanity a second chance as he believed the balance between light and darkness was off and he wanted to keep the darkness in check or some bullshit. I'm sorry, but you cannot show me a villain that does so much to manipulate and spreads so much darkness and chaos and expect me to take this sudden Heel-Face Turn seriously. It just makes the conclusion just a tad bit anticlimactic. Also the ending kind of…happened. Sora just disappears after saving Kairi and we don't know where he is. Hopefully the Re:Mind DLC (Which I have yet to play) will and any future games in the series will tie up any loose ends. The post-credit cutscenes look promising if I'm being honest.

But we don't play Kingdom Hearts for the story, and for the whole one person who does congratulations you understand this series' plot better than most of the series' fanbase, but all that aside, the real reason we play Kingdom Hearts is for the Disney Worlds and the fun hack and slash/action RPG combat, and this game delivers on these fronts.

While Olympus Coliseum returns, and I personally think it's one of the better versions since it takes place during the climax of Disney's Hercules. We also get another Pirate's of the Caribbean world based on the third movie and they have awesome ship combat, and on top of that the graphics in that world look pretty damn good. Seriously, Sora, Donald, and Goofy look like they fit right in with Jack Sparrow and his crew. Every other world is one we haven't seen before like Big Hero 6's San Fransokyo, Frozen's Arendelle, Tangled's Kingdom of Corona, and we finally get Pixar movies in the form of Toy Story's Toy Box and Monsters Inc.'s Monstropolis.

While most of these worlds are essentially a retelling of their respective story, Toy Box, Monstropolis, and San Fransokyo offer original storylines that take place after the respective movie. Monstropolis is a better sequel to Monsters Inc. than Monsters University, San Fransokyo shows us what happens to the original Baymax, and Toy Box is now cannon with the Toy Story series.

This game offers side content to keep you busy if you aren't entertained enough with the main story. You can visit the 100 Acre Wood and play a Bust-a-Move style puzzle game. You can play a cooking simulator to make items that'll boost your stats with Remy, who is called Little Chef in this game, from Ratatouille. Look for Lucky Emblems in each world and take a picture with your Gummi Phone. Play these Game & Watch style minigames based on old Disney shorts. They even bring back Gummi Ship segments, give them a more open world feel allowing you to take on bosses and open up Treasure Spheres (On a side note this is so far the most recognition Treasure Planet has gotten in the Kingdom Hearts series). This game does a lot to make sure you're not bored while trying to stop Xehanort.

Now we get to the combat and overall gameplay. I feel that Kingdom Hearts 3 is the perfect melding of past Kingdom Hearts games. We have the Shot Lock commands of Birth By Sleep as well as the Flowmotion of Dream Drop Distance, and the Re:Mind DLC seems to be taking a page out of KH2 Final Mix's book and allowing you to fight every member of this game's Organization XIII.

Kingdom Hearts 3 also does its part to add its own gimmicks. For one thing you can switch between up to 3 keyblades on the fly, meaning you're not restricted to just one, and on that note you can even upgrade your keyblades. So for those of you who like the Kingdom Key, you can now use it throughout the entire game without feeling like you have to switch. This game also gives us the returning Form Changes where depending on what Keyblade you have equipped, Sora's Keyblade will change to either a shield, a drill, a pair of claws, some guns, and more. This game also introduced Rage Form which is essentially Kingdom Hearts 2's Anti-Form done right.

Donald and Goofy are back helping Sora on his journey and they're also pretty handy. Donald is quick to heal you if your health is getting low, and Sora can team up with them in battle to do some interesting team attacks.

But the biggest and most interesting form of gameplay are the Attractions which pay homage to the rides at Disney Theme Parks. Big Magic Mountain pays homage to Big Thunder Mountain by having Sora, Donald, and Goofy ride in the coaster and shoot away at hordes of enemies from the ride's chimney. Mad Tea Cups allows you to spin all around the area and bash into enemies. Blaster Blaze gives you the chance to shoot at the enemies with the ride's lazer guns. Magic Carousel is a rhythm based game where if timed correctly, lots of damage can be dealt to enemies. Splash Run has you create a path of water and then go back up the path you created, crashing into any enemies that cross your path. And finally Pirate Ship which launches waves of water at enemies with each swings and it damages any enemies that go near it. It's even possible to juggle enemies with this ability.

Finally, I want to talk about this game's presentation. This is without a doubt the best looking Kingdom Hearts game and it almost feels like we're playing through an actual Disney Movie. The great graphics also make the battles feel more intense and eye catching, especially when we're fighting against this game's amazing line up of boss battles. And then we get to the game's soundtrack. Some of my favorite tunes are the Toy Box Overworld Theme, this game's iteration of Tension Rising, this game's iteration of The Other Promise, The Key to All, Oscurita di Xehanort, Skoll/Grim Guardianess' theme, this game's iteration of Enter the Darkness', and of course Hikaru Utada's main themes for this game, and probably the best vocal songs I've heard in any game, Face My Fears and Don't Think Twice. The former really gets you pumped up to play this game and the latter is a beautiful song that fits the overall tone the game tried to end on. Seriously, Don't Think Twice is so good I use it for my Fanfiction 'South Park Emotional Warzone.'

In conclusion, Kingdom Hearts 3 may have taken a long time to get here, but it was worth it to experience magnificent gameplay, explore even more magnificent worlds, and listen to the absolutely beautiful soundtrack while taking in the eye catching visuals. The only left for me to do now is play the Re:Mind DLC and wait another eternity for the next Kingdom Hearts game.


	25. Day 25: LoZ: Breath of the Wild

Day 25: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

It was the swan song for the Wii U and the warm welcome for the Switch, this is The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild, the first Zelda game to take on a sort of survival style gameplay, and probably the biggest Zelda game to date.

100 years after Calamity Ganon's return, our hero Link awakes to find himself with a case of amnesia. He comes across the spirit of King Rhoam, the former King of Hyrule, who tells him that he needs to defeat Ganon before the world sufferes any further damage. Now Link must travel the vast wasteland that once was Hyrule in search of the Devine Beasts needed to defeat Calamity Ganon, as well as learn about his past.

Let me just start by reiterating that this game is _big!_ Probably the biggest Zelda game we've gotten so far. This game offers so much that it's nearly impossible to get bored. This game is filled to the brim with side content like the shrines which have you go through a physical or mental trial that will net you a spirit orb which you can use to increase your heart containers or stamina wheel, do tons of side quests, raid enemy bases to get whatever treasure they're guarding, collect Korok seeds to expand the number of weapons and shields you can carry, take on the Guardians in the area and use their parts to make better weapons and armor, tame wild horses or bears, or just screw around and scavenge for ingredients and weapons.

Yeah, While Kingdom Hearts 3 also had a cooking simulator to increase your stats, Breath of the Wild was not only the one of the two games to do it first, but they honestly do it better. You can combine ingredients to get whatever dish you concoct. Some will boost your strength, boost your health, boost your defense, or will actually prove to do more harm than good if you are a terrible cook. Also I really like the jingle that plays when you're cooking the food.

Weapons and shields have a rather interesting mechanic. If used too much, they'll eventually break and you'll lose them forever (When you get the Master Sword doesn't necessarily break it just needs to recharge), so this game encourages you to use your weapons wisely, giving this game a bit of strategy.

Among a vast variety of weapons and shields, we also have a vast amount of armor that also has its perks. Some armor gives Link better defense, better stealth, and they can even help Link endure certain weather conditions without taking damage. The weather is another interesting element that hammers the survival gameplay this game is trying to build. Link will slowly loose health if but in an area that's too hot or too cold unless he has the necessary armor, if there's a thunderstorm Link will get struck by lightning if he has anything metal on him, and the cliffs are too slippery to climb when it's raining. I don't mind this too much as, again, it really hammers in the point that you're trying to survive in what is basically the wilderness.

One thing I really like about Breath of the Wild is how it encourages you to choose your own adventure. There's no rush to do everything needed in the main story as you can just screw around and do whatever you want, but when you do decide to tackle the main story, you can tackle the dungeons in any order you want. Hell, you can even face the final boss as soon as you finish the tutorial area with no more than three hearts, sticks and stones for weapons, and in your freaking underwear.

On the subject of the dungeons, they're all really fun mixes of puzzle solving and combat and I enjoy going through them quite a bit, and the bosses are all pretty fun too.

Upon beating each boss, you get an ability that's significant to each champion that'll help you on your journey. The Zora Champion Mipha will give you Mipha's Grace which will protect you from death. The Goron Champion Daruk will give you Daruk's protection which will protect you from any attack for at least three times. The Gerudo Champion Urbosa will give you Urbosa's Fury which will send out a shockwave that'll damage any enemies in the blast radius. And finally there's the Rito Champion Revali who gives you Revali's Gale which gives you and updraft of air that'll give Link some extra height when climbing or flying on his glider. All of these are very helpful on your quest, and that's a great thing too because this game can be surprisingly hard at points.

By far, what I like the most about this game is how a certain mission will require you to recollect memories from Link's past and we get to see the bond he had with this game's iteration of Zelda, as well as the Four Champions of Hyrule. All of these cutscenes are really nice to watch, I really like the chemistry Link and Zelda share here, and all these cutscenes lead up to where the game began. Also, just saying, some of these cutscenes get really sad when you watch them all in order and you will feel for this game's version of Zelda by the end of it.

Breath of the Wild is a game so great and filled to brim with so much to do and discover, that it's no wonder why it won Game of the Year 2017. If you own a Wii U or a Switch and you haven't played this game yet, please do. This is game is a wild adventure from beginning to end, and I am so looking forward to this game's sequel.


	26. Day 26: Grand Theft Auto V

Day 26: Grand Theft Auto V

To kick off the second half of this marathon, I'd like to talk about one of the best sandbox games in recent years, Grand Theft Auto V.

This story follows three people, Franklin Clinton, Michael De Santa (Real last name is Townley), and Trevor Philips, as they try to pull off a series of heists to make some cash. However, these heists begin to have an effect on the three men's personal lives, with Michael having loads of issues with his family, Franklin and his best friend Lamar's friendship going through all sorts of trials and tribulations, and Trevor just having a knack for pissing every one off (especially if they're a gang/rival criminals/the security firm Merryweather). On top of that, the government gets involved, and need Franklin, Michael, and Trevor's help to stick it to a rival agency.

As you can see this game has lots of plots and subplots that it can be a little difficult to keep up. But like most games with a complex plot, our attention is drawn to the gameplay, and since Grand Theft Auto V is a sandbox game you bet it delivers a lot of content to keep you from getting bored. There's tons of missions, both story and side, for you to do that are pretty fun. The story missions especially are really fun as they can range from epic chases, action packed shootouts, sometimes both. The heist missions are especially fun to go through, and a few missions are dedicated to the intricate preparation of them.

On top of fun missions, the three playable characters, Franklin, Michael, and Trevor, have different abilities that make them feel different from each other.

Franklin can slow time down while driving, making each turn more accurate.

Michael can also slow down time, but only while shooting, making it easier to damage enemies before they can do any damage to you.

And Trevor can take out anyone in one shot with whatever weapon he has at his disposal. This is especially fun, and a key point, in Trevor's Rage Missions where you have to kill as many as you can within a given time limit.

The Side Missions are usually more mellow and involve things like helping someone impound cars, be a Paparazzo, raid cash trucks, catch bail jumpers, and even being a good Samaritan by stopping a potential crime, driving a taxi, or picking up some hitchhikers…where you can either take them to the location requested or a cult of cannibals for some money…Ah, it's Grand Theft Auto, what did I expect?

And since this is a sandbox game, GTA V gives you tons of things to do beyond that like pulling off crazy jumps with makeshift ramps, car and character customization, and if you're feeling really adventurous…kill everything and everyone in sight with a vast variety of weapons.

Or you could play Grand Theft Auto Online where you can do more heist missions, compete in other game modes, and interact with other players while simultaneously screwing over those you don't know. I never really was that big on online games, with one exception that will come later, but if you are then GTA V should take care of you just fine.

With all that there is to do and see in the game, Grand Theft Auto V is a sublime experience that might not be my favorite Sandbox game, but it's definitely in my Top 3 of the genre and my favorite Grand Theft Auto game released so far. Hopefully if Rockstar decides to release Grand Theft Auto VI, it'll be even better than this game.


	27. Day 27: God of War (2018)

Day 27: God of War (2018)

For the next game in this marathon, I'd like to take a moment to talk about Dad of Boy…

**(Static)**

…God of War 2018, a game centered around Norse Mythology, showing that there's more than one mythological pantheon to screw over once you've killed literally all the Gods of Olympus. And on that note let's talk about the story.

Set years after God of War III, Kratos has aged and started a new life in Midgard, even having a wife and a son named Atreus. After the wife dies, however, Kratos and Atreus go on a journey together to fulfill her dying wish on having her ashes spread among the highest peak in the Nine Realms. Along the way, they run into colorful characters like the wise Mimir, the mysterious Freya, and the blacksmith dwarf brothers, the rude Brok and the germophobic Sindri. However, Kratos and Atreus are also being pursued by a stranger who turns out to be the Norse God Baldur, and his minions who happen to be Thor's sons, Magni and Modi, making their simple journey on fulfilling a dying wish…not so simple as this story takes tons of twists and turns going from one realm to the next, and there's even a part where Atreus is near death and Kratos has to find the heart of a Helheim troll to save him.

As you can imagine, this story has moments where the stakes can get pretty high and I absolutely love it.

One thing I find interesting about the story when compared to other games in the series is how relaxed and mellow this game is when compared to the bombastic and ultraviolent nature of its predecessors. This can mainly be shown with Kratos, who clearly has regrets about what he did in past games, and is now trying to make sure his son Atreus doesn't go down the same path. I also really like the relationship Kratos and Atreus have with one another, almost seeming like a mentor-student relationship in a way. I genuinely buy the fact that Kratos cares about his son, it's just that he has trouble connecting with him on an emotional level, but for the most part I'm fully invested on the bond these two share.

Like I said about Brok and Sindri, they're blacksmiths, and as such they're your main source of upgrading your weapons, whether they be your Leviathan Axe, Blades of Chaos, Atreus' Talon Bow (which is an interesting way to solve puzzles and get a little extra fire power in tough boss battles), or new pieces of Armor to aid Kratos on his journey.

You can even equip Pummels to your Leviathan Axe or Blades of Chaos to increase their stats. Talismans and Enchantments are also able to do that too, giving Kratos a load of variety when it comes to weapon and armor customization.

This game also introduces a Skill Tree System which introduces new abilities for Kratos and Atreus' weapons giving you more variety when it comes to the gameplay.

Still on the subject of gameplay is what happens when you engage in a battle. Of course you have Kratos and Atreus weapons at your disposal, but you take advantage of weaknesses and aim for certain parts of the body during quick time events, making this game feel a bit like an RPG. This game even takes a note out of Legend of Zelda's book by giving Kratos a lock-on feature, making the location of your enemy and subsequent hits more precise.

Adding on to the gameplay are brief quests to distract you from the main story, giving God of War (2018) a more open world feeling as well. My favorite side quests are the Valkyrie side quests where you go toe-to-toe with a Valkyrie in an attempt to free them from a curse. These fights are really challenging, yet fun enough where I want to keep trying every time I loose, resulting in a feeling of utter satisfaction when I finally win.

Finally, the graphics are among the best on the PS4. The forests and mountains of Midgard, the fiery hellscape of Muspelheim, the foggy and desolate Niflheim, the haunting nature of Helheim, and others come to life thanks to the graphical presentation of the console.

So, for giving God of War (2018) likable characters (Especially when it comes to Kratos), engaging gameplay, and beautiful presentation, this is definitely a step in the right direction for the series, and I can't wait to see what Santa Monica Games does with the franchise from here.


	28. Day 28: Uncharted 4 A Thief's End

Day 28: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

It's the biggest Uncharted Game to date, this is Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, an epic conclusion to Nathan Drake's epic storyline and put on the epic PS4.

The story this time around involves Nathan Drake, who since Uncharted 3 has retired from being a treasure hunter, meeting up with his lost brother Sam Drake (On a side note hell yeah, Sam is voiced by Troy Baker) who wants to go looking for the treasure of a infamous pirate, Henry Avery. Feeling as though his life has lost its excitement since his retirement, Nate, Sam, and Sully embark on yet another journey for the treasure, all while making sure to get to it before the villains of the game, Rafe Adler and Nadine Ross, get to it first.

The overall story is actually kind of tame by this series' standards. Usually whatever Nate and company are going after, the villains are seeking the same thing…but that thing more often than not poses a threat to the rest of the world. Here, it's just a normal everyday treasure hunt with all the gun combat and parkour the Uncharted Series is known for. I don't mind this change in tone because the story also gives flashbacks to Nathan and Sam's teenage years and we get to see how well they bonded, and how far back their passion for treasure hunting went. It's a very nice touch.

Gameplay is similar to every other Uncharted game. Shoot down any enemy that gets in your way with whatever firearms you have in your possession, solve an occasional puzzle, and climb up cliff sides and jump over crevasses to either collect a hidden treasure or continue your journey. This game however adds something else to make the parkour more interesting. The rope swing, allowing Drake to swing larger crevasses and perform a sort of wall run.

The set pieces are among the most beautiful thing in this game. The convoy chase in this game takes place in a busty town, In one level you drive around a vast savanna on a jeep, in another you sail the seas on a boat, one of the earlier levels has you infiltrate a dinner party, you see the ruins of an old colonial village, and the final battle takes place in a burning shipwreck. Even Drake and Elena's home in the beginning of the game gives off a cozy feeling…being able to play a level from the original Crash Bandicoot certainly helps. Other than that, most of these set pieces offer very action packed scenarios that, once again, can make the stakes seem really high.

That's all I really have to say about this game, I know it's not much but Uncharted 4 is a fun game with the same gameplay we've gotten used to, interesting characters, and a nice graphical overhaul making this game another great looking game for the PS4 library. Definitely an essential game for anyone that owns a PS4.


	29. Day 29: Sly Cooper Thieves in Time

Day 29: Sly Cooper Thieves in Time

You know what I find weird? Both Uncharted and Sly franchises, both of which involve treasure hunters/thieves by the way, have two games each in this marathon, they both happen to be the second and fourth main series entry, and an Uncharted game appears next to a Sly game (or vice versa) in the marathon. What was it that one guy from 'The Incredibles' said?

**Bernie Kropp: Coincidence? I think NOT!**

Whatever, coming up next is Sly Cooper Thieves in Time, the first Sly game to appear after an eight year long hiatus…before disappearing for yet another hiatus…this is truly the darkest timeline.

Set sometime after the last game in the series, Bentley notices that the pages from Sly's book, The Thievius Raccoonus, are starting to disappear, leading him to believe that someone is messing with history. So, he reassembles Murray and Sly to figure out what is going on and see who is rewriting history. Oh, did I also mention Carmelita joins the team…and we get to see and play as some of Sly's ancestors…and Penelope, Bentley's girlfriend from the last game, is now working for the villains. Yeah, story wise, Thieves in Time is probably my favorite in the series.

Let's talk about the ancestors and new villains of this game before anything else. Can I just say I love Sly's ancestors. You have Rioichi Copper, the wise and stoic ninja ancestor from Feudal Japan, Tennessee Kid Cooper (my favorite of the bunch BTW), a laid-back and charming outlaw from the Wild West, Bob Cooper, the friendly and loyal cave-raccoon from the Ice Age, Sir Galleth Cooper, the bombastic knight from the Medieval Era, and Salim Al-Kupar, the lazy and grumpy ancestor from Arabia.

Each ancestor plays similar to Sly, but have different abilities that make them noticeably different. Rioichi can make long jumps when perched on a spire, Tennessee Kid's cane doubles as a gun, Bob can climb up icy surfaces, Sir Galleth can latch onto walls and basically catapult upwards to reach another area he can latch onto or bash an obstacle above him, and Salim can climb up ropes at a fast pace, which can be especially useful if the rope is weak and close to breaking.

I really like the ancestors, their personalities, and the differences in their gameplay that make them fun to use.

Sly, Bentley, and Murray play similar to their appearances in previous games, but you also have the option to go out in the field as Carmelita Fox, who can take enemies out with her shock pistols.

Back on topic, we now get to the villains of the game. We have El Jefe, who is essentially furry Fidel Castro, Toothpick, an armadillo who watched nothing but spaghetti westerns and sought to live the lifestyle of the outlaws he watched, The Grizz, a stereotypical black gangster who even goes as far as to rap whenever he talks…and it's kind of hilarious.

**(Moment #1)**

"**G-G-G-Grizz, Grizz, Grizz! The Grizz gonna put some art on ice. Gonna dig it up later for a big fat price! Le Paradox is a stinky dude, and I'm getting real sick of his attitude."**

**(Moment #2)**

"**So I'm rolling. I'm flowing so bad it ain't fair. The Grizz will teach Le Paradox don't mess with the bear!"**

The Grizz is easily my favorite villain. Next is Penelope, the former love interest of Bentley, now one of Le Paradox's best minions. Miss Decibel, after a trumpet gets lodged in her trunk after a freak accident from a tantrum, has the power of hypnosis and intends to use that power on Salim's friends.

Finally, there's Cyril Le Paradox, one of the most interesting villains of the series. Le Paradox is essentially and evil Sly, having come from a line of successful thieves himself. But after an incident that involved his father going to jail after missing out on a heist Sly's father got to before him, Cyril had no one to teach him how to be a proper thief, and he learned most of what he knows from jail. After getting out of jail, Le Paradox still pretended to be a, as Sly put it, a law abiding citizen under the guise of an art collector, but he formed his own syndicate based on all of the connections he made while in jail, allowing him to commit a series of international heists, with the biggest one being the wiping of the Cooper family line based simply from a grudge from years ago.

Suffice it to say, Le Paradox is a very well thought out villain and an interesting one to follow…if only his final boss fight didn't boil down to a glorified quick time event.

Now let's get to the rest of the gameplay. Content wise, you still have loads of clue bottles to collect to gain another skill, you can still use any coins you find in the field to buy more skills for Sly and the gang to use, you can still pickpocket enemies for money and treasure, and the levels are just as open as they were in the previous games with loads of fun missions to do. On the subject of the levels, they really took advantage of whatever time period the level is set in as they are all well detailed and made even more beautiful due to the cell shaded graphics which, thanks to being on the PS3, make the game look even more like a comic book/cartoon. While most of the gameplay is similar to previous games, it's like the old saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." (I'm using this statement more than I thought I would)

If there are some complaints I do have with the game, other than the garbage final battle against Le Paradox, it would be the fact that Carmelita doesn't really have a lot to do, no missions are made specifically for her. She does appear in some missions, but only as a small part of a mission which is accessible through another character. I guess you can go out in the field as her but…why? Also, the ending has left the series on one hell of a cliffhanger that needs resolving. Sanzaru, Sucker Punch, someone, anyone, please make a Sly 5! The demand is there, and the potential for a great sequel is there with it. It's been seven years since this game. I don't want to have another hiatus that's as long, if not longer, than the hiatus between Sly 3 and this game.

Overall, while this game as a few things that stop it from being perfect, it still makes the cut as my favorite game in the series so far. And now to go back to waiting for news on a sequel.


	30. Day 30: Bayonetta 2

**Day 30: Bayonetta 2**

Time to dig into the salvaged Wii U game pile that is the Nintendo Switch once more.

Platinum Games are masters of the hack and slash genre of gaming. They're always filled with fun and flashy combat, awesome characters, and an interesting story. Bayonetta 2 is no exception.

Bayonetta 2 is yet another game with a story that has a lot going on. While trying to take out some angels attacking the city, Bayonetta's trademark ability to summon demons goes wrong, resulting in the death of her friend Jeanne and her soul being dragged to Inferno. Now Bayonetta has to figure out what's causing her demons to act up, and save Jeanne from Inferno. As this is going on, a mysterious prophet summons a Lumen Sage (A.K.A Balder from the past) to go after Bayonetta and a young boy named Loki, as the prophet, named Loptr, turns out to be half of a god named Aesir, and he'll regain his power as said god when he saps the power of Loki to control "the eyes of the world," which so happen to be in the possession of Bayonetta and Balder. So on top of saving a friend, Bayonetta needs to save the world yet again from a psychotic God.

The game lost just as good if not better than the first game, and all of the levels and enemies are very well designed. The levels are very fun to explore and the bosses are very entertaining to beat down and flashy as hell to face. They even have a level where Bayonetta goes back in time during the war between the Lumen sages and Umbra Witches and we get to see first hand the events that transpired, making the story even more interesting.

Bayonetta herself looks better in this game than the first game…in more ways than one. I don't know what it is, but Bayonetta looks better with shorter hair.

Speaking of Bayonetta and her hair, one of the key components of the gameplay is how she's able to summon demons to deliver finishing blows to her enemies by using her hair…which is also what her suit is made off…meaning she summons them naked…Aw yeah!

On a less perverted note, since this is a hack and slash, Bayonetta has loads of weapons at her disposal. She starts off with her handguns, but as the game goes on, she'll have access to whips, swords, scythes, arrows, and chainsaws. She can equip these weapons to either her hands or her feet, giving you a good sum of combinations to play with.

This game also introduces the Umbran Climax, which powers up whatever weapon Bayonetta is using, allowing her to rack up good combos, and wreck havoc upon the angels and demons she faces. Yeah, another intesting this is that we fight not only the angels in Paradiso, but the demons if Inferno. I thought that was interesting since we really didn't get to see any sort of demons in the first game beyond the ones Bayonetta summons.

With the unique weapons combinations and Umbran Climax, it just makes the already flashy combat even flashier, I mean Christ Almight we're playing Bayonetta 2 here…not Dynasty Warriors.

And to top it all off…this game has much better quick time events than the last game. Okay, this game is awesome.

So, with flashy and fast paced combat along with interesting story and characters, Bayonetta 2 is an enchantingly good time that I can recommend to anyone with a Wii U or Switch.

Also as long as we're on the subject…can we get some kind of update on how Bayonetta 3 is coming along? Please!?


	31. Day 31: Guacamelee 2

**Day 31: Guacamelee 2!**

You know what I noticed about most Metroidvanias that aren't…well…a part of the Metroid or Castlevania series? Most of the famous and well known ones are indie games. I've already talked about games like Shantae and the Pirate's Curse earlier in the marathon, but beyond that we have games like Hollow Knight, Dust and Elysian Tale, Ori and the Blind Forest, Cave Story, and even more beyond that. But for my favorite Metroidvania of the bunch, we need to take a trip into the Mexiverse where we'll find Guacamelee 2!

I have played the first Guacamelee game on the Wii U back in 2014, and I remember liking it just fine. So when I heard that a sequel was announced, I bought it for my Switch, played it, and absolutely loved it.

Guacamelee 2 takes place after the events of the first game, with Juan settling down with Lupita and starting a family. Everything seems to be going fine until black clouds start to appear, and Uay Chivo appears to inform Juan that the Mexiverse is in danger of being destroyed by this game's villain, Salvador. So Uay Chivo takes Juan to an alternate timeline where Salvador was the one to defeat Calaca, the villain from the last game, and now it's a race against time to stop Salvador from collecting three sacred relics and entering El Otromundo to obtain unlimited power...from a bowl of guacamole.

And on that note I think this is a good time to talk about this game's humor. Much like the last game, this game relies on memes and video game Easter eggs to bring on the chuckles. These come in the form of background posters scattered throughout each level, and the timelines Juan visits. There's a timeline based on Limbo, a timeline based on Street Fighter II, a timeline based on old school RPGs, there's even a timeline based on micro-transactions and…they actually make it kind of funny. There's also a timeline made up of nothing but satires of old memes and the inhabitants are quick to criticize them. Now that's funny.

When the game isn't making you laugh that way, it's giving you some very quirkly and loveable characters like every version of Uay Chivo, Salvador's minions El Muneco, Uay Pek, and Zope and Cactuardo, and all of the coaches like Dona Chamoya, the returning Flame Face, Coscorrona, Rooster Ramirez, and Uay Coco. This is easily a strong contender for the funniest game I've ever played.

Speaking of the coaches let's talk about them for a bit, because Guacamelee 2 introduces a skill tree system which can give Juan more moves, power up said moves, and allow him to power up his combo meter.

Since this game is a Metroidvania, it offers tons of levels to explore, puzzles to solve, and enemy gauntlets to overcome in order to gain treasure and items to increase your overall health and stamina. This game also introduces something similar to the mask parts in the form of the Key Pieces and the Chicken Illuminati. To get each key piece, you must overcome a ball breakingly hard, but fun, challenge that test our your skills in platforming, combat, and sometimes both, all leading up to a challenge called 'The Crucible,' and it's easily the hardest thing I've ever had to do in any video game, I still don't have the patience to beat this. I'll take the game's bad ending any day, at least Juan makes it home to his family in that ending too…it just takes longer that's all.

Juan gets the abilities that he learned in the last game to help him such as dimension swapping, pollo transformation, and his special moves to help him break certain barriers and take on enemies with a specific shield (on that note why the hell did they change the name of the Dashing Derp-Derp to just, Dash Punch).

But, he also gets new abilities to help him out like the Eagle Boost which he can use to jump higher or cross large chasms, and they made the pollo form more awesome. In the last game, you only really needed the pollo form to go through narrow passages, but Guacamelee 2 goes the extra mile to give it its own moveset in the form of the Pollo Shot, Pollo Slide, Pollo Glide, Pollo Fans, and laying eggs…okay.

Add in some fun boss battles, colorful graphics and presentation, and some challenging DLC in the form of The Proving Grounds, and you have a Metroidvania that is an absolute must play for fans of the genre.


	32. Day 32: inFamous Second Son

Day 32: inFamous Second Son

Where do you go with your series after your main character in the last two games is either dead or a villain hell bent on making a world solely for Conduits? You give the role to another badass and charismatic character voiced by Troy Baker, of course! This is inFamous Second Son.

After our rebellious main protagonist, Delsin Rowe, discovers he's a conduit after absorbing the smoke powers of another conduit who, along with two other conduits named Abigail (A.K.A Fetch) and Eugene, survive the wreckage of a military transport vehicle. When this game's villain, Brooke Augustine, comes to question Delsin and the reservation he's living on, Delsin discovers that she too is a conduit, being able to control concrete, which she uses to torture the other tribe members and now they're slowly dying due to the concrete shards in their bodies. So, Delsin and his brother Reggie set out for Seattle to find Augustine so Delsin can take her power and save the reservation...or destroy it if you're someone who likes to take the evil path.

**BRIEF SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH!**

Can I just say I love Delsin Rowe as a character. He's rebellious, but by no means is he a bad guy as he cares about his older brother Reggie, and the feeling is obviously mutual as the latter character always makes sure Delsin stays out of trouble. The brotherly bond these two share is really nice and touching and it gets to the point that when Reggie dies near the end of the game, you feel the heartbreak that Delsin does and it just wants you to take out that bitch Augustine even more.

The other conduits in the game, Hank, Abigail, Eugene, and Augustine are also very interesting characters with their own unique back story that's interesting to listen to.

Back onto Delsin Rowe's abilities, as stated before, he can copy the abilities of other conduits just by touching him. He starts with Smoke, but when he meets the other two conduits that escaped the military truck wreckage, Abigail and Eugene, he gets their powers of Neon and Video respectively. You even get Augustine's power of Concrete to play with in the aftergame. All of these abilities are fun to play with, both in terms of getting around the beautiful city of Seattle, and getting into fights with Augustine's goons.

The missions in this game are really fun and, like in the other games in the series, some of the main story missions affect your level of karma that depends on what ending you get. There's also a few side missions that effect your level of karma, much like in previous games. But when you're not doing that, you're chasing down D.U.P's tracker drones to gain some more blast shards to learn new skills. Every single side mission in this game is a load of fun to play through. Seriously, I found myself doing these missions more than the story based missions.

I can't really think of anything else to say about this game, sorry if this is yet another short one. Let me finish off by saying inFamous Second Son is a great follow up to its PS3 predecessors that's a definite must own for all fans of the series and fans of the sandbox genre.


	33. Day 33: Pokémon Platinum

Day 33: Pokémon Platinum

Well seeing that the last Pokémon game we talked about was a remake of the generation that got me into the series, let's talk about the game that made me learn more about the mechanics, the value of having more than one Pokémon on your team, and just overall got me more invested in the franchise. This is Pokémon Platinum.

Pokémon Platinum's story is, once again, something you should expect from your typical Pokémon game: A young boy/girl gets his/her first Pokémon from the region's professor, he/she faces tons of trainers and occasionally his/her rival in order to get from one town to the next so he/she can collect eight gym badges to challenge the Pokémon League and become the new champion, all while putting the region's evil team in its place every now and again as they try and summon a legendary Pokémon to do their evil bidding.

Enough about that, let's talk about how Platinum improves upon its predecessors, both its vanilla version, Diamond and Pearl, and the generations that came before it. First, the obvious, the improved Pokédex. In Diamond and Pearl, while it did introduce new Pokémon, didn't take full advantage of the full roster. Generation 4 took a page out of Gen 2's playbook by giving a few Pokémon new evolutions to older ones like Magmortar, Electivire, Togekiss, Rhyperior, Gallade, and the new eeveelutions, Leafeon and Glaceon, just to name a few. Guess what, in Diamond and Pearl they, as well as their pre-evolved forms, are nowhere to be found in the main game and can only be accessed via trade or waiting for the aftergame. I mean, sure we got Roserade, Ambipom, Honchkrow, Mismagius, and Weavile in Diamond and Pearl's main game, but why give us some and not all? I'm here to report that in Pokémon Platinum, every new Pokémon is here, even giving us other Pokémon that didn't appear in Diamond and Pearl like the Swablu line, Tropius, Houndour line, Scyther line, and Absol.

But, with all the new Sinnoh Pokémon available in Platinum, I can easily say that this is probably my favorite roster in the entire series. My favorites would have to be the starters, Staraptor, Lucario, Toxicroack, Drapion, Roserade, Magmortar, Luxray, Gallade, Honchkrow, Electivire, Togekiss, Gliscor, Ambipom, just about every legendaries, and the best pseudo-legendary so far, Garchomp!

As a result of the new and improved Pokédex, it gives the trainers you encounter more variety to their teams with the best example I can think of being the Fire Elite Four member, Flint. In Diamond and Pearl, he had a Rapidash and an Infernape…_as his only fire Pokémon!_ Due to the limited amount of fire Pokémon in the original game, he had to fill up his other slots with Pokémon that can learn fire moves like Drifblim, Lopunny, and Steelix. Due to the increased selection of fire types in Platinum, Flint has ditched those fire type wannabes for actual fire types like Magmortar, Houndoom, and Flareon.

The second improvement Platinum made would be a better Battle Frontier. In Diamond and Pearl, it was just the Battle Tower. In Platinum, it takes a note out of Gen 3's playbook and gives us more facilities in the Battle Frontier, including the Battle Tower, to explore and battle in, and each facility introduces a new gimmick that you have to adjust to.

The third improvement, while I haven't used it myself, the Wifi Plaza, which gives you a lot to do including tons of mini-games to play.

Next are the new story elements Platinum introduces. On top of visiting Giratina's bizarre and awesome homeworld, the Distortion World, Stark Mountain is more involved with the story as it follows the remaining Team Galactic members after Cyrus disappearance and we get to see what the team is like under the leadership of the new Galactic Commander, Charon. Stark Mountain also looks better having lava pits right outside of the entrance, giving off that active volcano vibe. Come to think of it, a lot of areas in Sinnoh are more detailed and given a much needed polish when compared to Diamond and Pearl.

Now, while Platinum changes a lot to make Generation 4 even better, it still has a few elements from Diamond and Pearl that work. For example, the physical/special move split was introduced in this generation, making Pokémon that used to suck actually fun to use in battle. You can decorate your Pokéballs with capsules giving your Pokémon some flare when they come out in battle, and Team Galactic with their plans to create a new world by using Dialga and Palkia is just as awesome as ever…especially when we see the plan go wrong and Giratina gets summoned in one of the scariest moments in the franchise.

The last thing I want to talk about is the sound presentation. Pokémon Platinum has some of my favorite songs in the series like Gym Leader/Elite Four Theme, Champion Theme, Route 216, Route 225, Route 226, The Frontier Brain Theme, Giratina's Battle Theme, The Distortion World Theme, and most of the themes involving Team Galactic.

Overall, Pokémon Platinum does a lot to improve upon what Diamond and Pearl did while adding a few differences to make it feel like a brand new game. Here's to hoping that the Gen 4 remakes are half as good as Platinum was.


	34. Day 34: Cuphead

Day 34: Cuphead

Time for a great slam and then some, it's Cuphead, a strong contender for one of the hardest games I've ever played. But thankfully it's that kind of hard where it's mostly your fault that you lost, for the most part anyway, and you find yourself doing better and better with each time you retry.

Difficulty aside, let's talk about that story. It follows Cuphead and his pal Mugman who decide to visit a casino run by this game's villains, King Dice and the Devil. After Cuphead loses a game after betting his and Mugman's souls, the Devil decides to cut them a deal where if they go after his other debtors and collect their souls for him, he'll forget the bet and let them go. So Cuphead and Mugman set out to go after these debtors in some of the craziest and hardest boss fights you'll ever face.

Just to name a few of the foes you'll be facing there's a pair of boxing frog brothers that turn into a slot machine, a mermaid that turns into a gorgon, a possessed sunflower, an evil professor with a robot that turns the game into a Touhou styled shoot 'em up, a mouse piloting a tank and then a robotic cat, a blimp lady that turns into the freaking moon, and this all culminates to an epic confrontation with the Devil himself. All of these bosses are fun and unique in concept, and with the exception of a few of them I have a good amount of fun facing them.

When you're not beating up bosses, however, you're playing through the occasional run and gun stage which plays out like Contra or Megaman. Just shoot any enemy that comes your way, collect coins to buy at the shop, build up your parry meter when you see something pink, and hope you get a good score at the end.

The game also has moments where you must save Ms. Chalice from ghosts in a mausoleum in each section of Inkwell Isle. Succeeding will grant you a special ability to use in the field like a powerful lazer that takes up half the screen, brief invincibility, or this hard to control muscular Cuphead ghost. I'll be honest I rarely used the second and third power ups and just used the first one. The lazer is reliable, easy to use, and it knows how to get shit done.

The coins you find in each run and gun level as well as all around the overworld can be used to buy more shots and charms to equip. Shots in this game include your standard Peashooter, shots that act like Kirby's Cutter Ability, a charge shot, homing shots, spread fire, and lob shots. The charms you get are also unique as they can give you a few extra slots of health, smoke bombs that allow you to not take damage during a dash, automatic parrying, actively filling charge meters so you can use your super ability faster, and a charm that makes your first parry in a jump able to do damage to an enemy.

All of these charms, super abilities, and shots add a good amount variety to the game play and a good amount of combinations to try in each level or boss fight.

The gameplay tries to be different every now and again with very fun 2D shooting sections that feel like a 1930s Gradius, with big bosses to take out, attacks to dodge and parry. I really like these sections and find them to be a nice change of pace.

And finally, we come to the sound and graphical presentation. From a graphical standpoint, this is probably the best looking game I've played, if not in the top three. All of the graphics, colors, set pieces, and character movements ooze 1930s cartoon, even the music fits this vibe. I'm not a big fan of jazz music but Cuphead's soundtrack is very catchy with some of my favorite songs being Floral Furry, Clip Joint Calamity, Shootin n' Lootin, Murine Corps., King Dice's theme, and The King's Court. Cuphead is just a beautiful game overall.

One last tidbit of information is that, apparently, the lead developers of this game put everything they own on the line for this game, even going as far as quitting their jobs and remortgaging their houses. They knew that had to make a great game or else they'd be in more trouble than Cuphead and Mugman. Well, they wanted a fun and successful game, and they got a fun and successful game with five million copies bought as of October 2019, a port on the Nintendo Switch, upcoming DLC that looks promising, and a _Mii costume in Smash Bros. Ultimate!_

**(And I haven't even talked about some of the memes and fanart surrounding this game)**

The developers of Cuphead made a gamble, and now they're dancing with Lady Luck. This is a fun, challenging, and beautiful game to play that I can recommend to any gamers looking for a challenge, fans of old Fleischer and Disney cartoons, or fans of games like Contra.

Cuphead is nothing short of amazing, it's one of the best indie games I played, and you bet I am excited for 'The Delicious Last Course' DLC.


	35. Day 35: Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2

Day 35: Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2

"**Hey Lyra, do you know how long it's been since I talked about a Mario game on this marathon?"**

**Lyra: That depends, can **_**you **_**tell **_**me **_**how long it's been since South Park Emotional Warzone got a chapter?**

"**About as long as it takes for me to do your mom!"**

**Lyra: My mom is dead, you dingus!**

"**And she's living in your heart. She lives in you. Just tell me when the last time I talked about a Mario game was.**

**Lyra: About a month ago.**

"**I see…Lyra, fetch me the Super Mario Galaxy Duology!**

**Lyra: Coming up, you pitiful space case!**

**(Lyra throws Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 at my head, knocking me to the ground)**

"**Thank you…"**

So let's talk about the Super Mario Galaxy duology. Both stories are essentially the same so let's go over them.

It's the night of the Star Festival in the Mushroom Kingdom, and Mario is invited to spend the festivities with Princess Peach. But of course, Bowser has to come in and crash the party by uprooting Peach's castle, sending her to parts unknown and leaving Mario on a lone planet. Eventually he meets up with Princess Rosalina on her Comet Observatory which is powered by, what else, power stars. Rosalina says that by collecting enough, she can take Mario to where Bowser is located so he can save Peach and end his plans on creating his own galaxy. So this is essentially your everyday Mario plot but _in space!_

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, it starts out similar to the first game, with Mario on his way to the Star Festival to meet Peach, when he finds a small luma who got separated from his family, so he teams up with Mario and the two finally make it to the Mushroom Kingdom where they find a giant Bowser has stolen Peach and plans to make his own galaxy…again. So, with the assistance of a big purple luma named Lubba, who creates a spaceship in the likeness of Mario's face, Mario once again sets off to stop Bowser's plans and save Princess Peach.

The stories of these two games may be very similar, with a few differences sprinkled here or there, but the real reason one should play this duology is for the awesome levels and gameplay.

All of the levels are unique, colorful, and very fun to explore, and they really do give off the impression that you're exploring unknown planets in far off galaxies. One level could have Mario go through a kingdom of honeybees, another could have Mario infiltrate space fortresses, another galaxy could have gravity that changes on a dime. There are galaxies made of sweets and toys, a galaxy of smaller planets with a challenge to do on each of them, a galaxy that looks like ancient ruins, a galaxies that combine fire and ice levels in unique ways, there's even a galaxy in the second game that pays homage to Whomp's Fortress from Super Mario 64.

These games are in no shortage of good level idea, but you may notice that some of the themes in Galaxy 2 are similar to ones in the first game. For example, galaxies like Haunty Halls are similar in theme to Ghostly Galaxy. Or Shiverburn Galaxy is similar to Freezeflame Galaxy. Or how Honeyhop Galaxy is similar to Honeyhive Galaxy. That's because Super Mario Galaxy 2 was meant to be an expansion of sorts to the first game, and as a result people complain that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a copypasted sequel. I don't see it so much as copypasting, but more so what it actually is: An expansion of ideas that the first game established that make these themes even better, making even more awesome levels. In short, I don't mind reusing similar themes as long as the game is fun, which SMG2 definitely is.

Assisting Mario on both of his intergalactic journeys is Young Master Luma Luma, who gives Mario a spin attack to stun enemies, activate switches, solve puzzles, or interact with the environment around him like destroying boulders or hitting these...bouncy…tree things.

Power-ups are also how Mario will get around. The first game gives us the classic Fire Flower, which allows Mario to throw fireballs, the Ice Flower, which gives Mario the power to walk on water and wall jump up waterfalls, the Spring Mushroom which gives Mario an extra boost in his jump as well as painful controls, the Bee Mushroom which gives Mario the power of flight, the Boo Mushroom which allows Mario to pass through certain walls, and the Red Star which allows Mario to fly all around the Comet Observatory making for some quick travel.

As for the power-ups Galaxy 2 introduces, there's the Spin Drill, which allows Mario to dig underground, the Cloud Flower which gives Mario the ability to stand on clouds, has a slower fall time, and he can create three cloud platforms of his very own, and finally the Rock Mushroom, which allows Mario to harness his inner Miltank and use Rollout on enemies and obstacles.

Mario Galaxy 2 gives Yoshi some time to shine. Yoshi can eat enemies and berries to give Mario star bits, this game's form of ammo and/or currency to unlock new galaxies/planets to unlock a secret star, and flutter jump over long gaps. However, Yoshi can also eat specific berries that give him a certain ability. Red berries make Yoshi run fast, blue berries turn Yoshi into a balloon that can help Mario reach high-up platforms, and the yellow berry can allow Yoshi to uncover hidden platforms.

Other unique elements in the gameplay of these games would be the ball rolling stages, where you have to get from one point of the level to the other by riding a ball, bubble mazes where you have to get from one point in the level to the next without popping your bubble or else the consequence is most likely death, manta surfing, which acts as a sort of race where you have to beat the course within a certain time limit, Fluzzard stages where you have to make it to the end of the stage while flying on the Fluzzard, and latter there are even races where first place grants you a star, the Chimp challenges where you have to beat Chimp's high score in either coin collecting or enemy killing among other challenges, and so much more.

Luigi even joins in on the fun once you beat each game's main story. In the first game you can play through the game again as Luigi, while in the second game you can switch between Mario and Luigi. Luigi controls similar to his brother except for the fact that he jumps higher and runs faster at the cost of having a slide when he's finished walking.

_Still _on the subject of gameplay, we have the Prankster Comets. In the first game we have Speedy Comets, where you have to beat a stage within a time limit, Cosmic Clone Comets, where you have to race an evil version of Mario or Luigi to the power star, Daredevil comets where you have to face a boss, or in Melty Molten Galaxy's case go through the entire first mission, without taking a hit, Fast Foe Comets where all enemies and obstacle are sped up, and Purple Coin Comets where you need to collect 100 purple coins either scattered throughout the level or within a certain time limit.

Galaxy 2, of course, brings these back, but with a new gimmick attatched. In each level is a Comet Medal, and by collecting a Comet Medal, you unlock the Prankster Comet for that level. Most of the comets from the first game return with a few added gimmicks like how the Speedy Comet now involves collecting clocks to give you 10 extra seconds, and the Cosmic Clones now follow you throughout a level rather than chase you to the star. The new comets this game introduces are the Romp Comet, where you need to take out a certain number of enemies before time runs out, Double Time Comets, which play out similar to Fast Foe Comets, where the obstacles move much faster, and Green Comets, which are only unlocked after you beat the game, where you have to go back through each level to collect green starts that are scattered throughout them, and they add a whole new layer of challenge to the game.

And for those of you who say Mario games lack a coherent story, the first game gives us insight to Rosalina's backstory and it's not exactly an uplifting one. Not to spoil anything, but this is probably the darkest the main series Mario games has ever gotten.

And finally, we can't talk about Super Mario Galaxy games without bringing up their magnificent soundtrack. These are, once again, some of my favorite soundtracks in gaming and we'd be here all day if I told you my favorite from each game. Let me just say they all fit their respective level or moment well, and orchestra is one of the greatest genres in music, and leave it at that.

To wrap this up, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are some of the most fun and interesting Mario games you could ever play with some of the most fun and interesting levels you'll ever play through. These two easily share the spot for second favorite Mario game, but they just _barely _miss my Top 15 in this marathon. Nevertheless these are two fantastic games that are must play for all Mario and video game fans.


	36. Day 36: Metal Gear Rising Revengeance

Day 36: Metal Gear Rising Revengeance

I'll be honest, I'm haven't exactly played the Metal Gear Solid series. I mean, it's not like I haven't thought about playing them, it's just not my preferred style of game. Like I said earlier in the marathon, I like a game that I can just pick up and play. It's not that I have anything against stealth (I play Sly Cooper for crying out loud) it's just not my go to genre when I want to play a game. Having said this there is one Metal Gear game I have played and I love to bits! What happens when you take the wacky mind of Hideo Kojima and mix it with the epic, over the top gameplay of most Platinum games? You get Metal Gear Rising Revengeance.

After a botched escort of an African Prime Minister, resulting in said Prime Minister getting killed and him loosing an arm and an eye to one of the game's bad guys, Jetstream Sam, Raiden decides to go after the organization responsible, Desperado. His quest leads him to places like Abkhazia, Mexico, Pakistan, and for brief moment Denver, Colorado. As Raiden's quest continues he learns that Desperado teamed up with World Marshall in an attempt to use children's brains and condition them so they become killers, and are placed in cybernetic bodies. So, basically, a similar situation to Raiden. However, towards the game's end, the main antagonist, Senator Steven Armstrong, is revealed to have used Desperado for his main goal: The assassination of the current president to start a War on Terror, allowing him to win the election by a landslide and create a world based solely on survival of the fittest.

Raiden clearly has a lot on his plate when it comes to the story. So how would one resolve most of these conflicts? Oh nothing much just hack and slash everything in sight!

Metal Gear Rising plays similar to most other games of the genre, you see an enemy, cut that bitch to ribbons. However, you're not limited to swinging your blade all willy-nilly. You have weapons like grenades and rocket launcher to use too, and for you MGS fans out there, Raiden has an option to stealthily sneak up on an enemy and snuff them out when they're not looking…and for good measure they bring back boxes and oil drums for Raiden to hideout in…now we're playing a Metal Gear game.

As you slash away at your enemies, you'll occasionally get quick time events that'll allow you to do a flashy finisher and finish it with a little Zandatsu, allowing Raiden to take the enemy's electrolytes and regenerate his health and FC gauge that allows Raiden to pull off Zandatsu as well as enter his Ripper Mode, which allows you to take everything out in one hit! Cut through those motherfuckers like the pieces of meat they are! Cover the walls and streets red with their blood! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

…What the hell was I talking about? Oh right, the gameplay.

After beating each chapter, you'll Raiden will have the chance to learn new moves, increase his overall stats, get new skins, upgrade his weapons, and even buy new weapons besides your regular sword, some of which are based on whatever boss Raiden recently defeated. (I love you L'Etranger!)

Speaking of the bosses, I love this game's lineup of boss battles (Monsoon not withstanding). My favorite would have to be the epicness that is Metal Gear RAY, especially since it's the first boss in the game and it really sets the tone for how over the top future battles will be, Jetstream Sam rematch for the environment and the satisfaction of finally beating this cocky cyborg, and of course the epic final confrontation with the Metal Gear EXCELSUS and Senator Steven Armstrong and his…

**Armstrong: Nanomachines, son!**

I love that meme.

And more often than not, these boss battles, as well as every minor battle preceding them, are accompanied with some of the best video game music you will ever hear. Screw Undertale and forget Super Mario Galaxy, _this _is my favorite video game soundtrack! Every song is fast paced, blood pumping, adrenaline fueled, dubstep goodness. There is not a single song I dislike from this amazing OST and I can listen to them over and over again without getting tired of it. Hard to believe the same guy who made the OST for _Toontown _responsible for this amazing soundtrack. Seriously, if you haven't heard at least one song from this game, do yourself a favor and do so right now.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance is, in my opinion, Platinum's best work so far. I haven't gotten that far into Nier Automata or played Astral Chain, so we'll see how MGR stacks up against those, but for right now this is what I consider to be their magnum opus. Without a doubt my favorite hack and slash game.


	37. Day 37: Sonic Mania

Day 37: Sonic Mania

I've heard many a debate over whether 2D Sonic or 3D Sonic is better. Some say you can't beat the classics of the Genesis, others like the inventiveness and overall upgrades of Modern Sonic. But then you get people like me who find themselves in the middle of it all, loving both iterations of our favorite blue blur. That's not to say I don't have a preference, I prefer a 3D Sonic game over the 2D ones. For a while I thought it doesn't get any better than Sonic Colors, but color me surprised when it actually does…in the form of a 2D Sonic game made by a very dedicated fan. All I know is, Sega, please take Christian Whitehead on board.

Sonic Mania's story involves Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles trying to stop Eggman and his new minions, The Hard Boiled Heavies, after he discovers a gemstone called The Phantom Ruby, a powerful gemstone which alters reality and something that Sonic Forces made so confusing that it's easier to follow the storyline of Kingdom Hearts! Plot device aside, it's now up to Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails to stop Eggman and the Heavies before they cause any further damage with the ruby. That's pretty much it: Eggman's being a PINGAS, go and stop him. The story is straight, simple and to the point just like in the older Sonic games, which is what Mania is trying to be.

Sonic Mania is one hell of a love letter to fans of Sonic and fans of the Genesis alike. And I'm not saying that because they reuse similar gameplay and levels (I'll talk about that in a bit) but also they bring back long forgotten characters like Ray the Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo, and the Heavy Magician makes illusions of Bean the Dynamite, Bark the Polar Bear, and Fang the Sniper for some of her attacks.

Sonic Mania's gameplay is similar to that of the classic Genesis games with all the spin dashes and spin jumps brought back to their former glory, plus the introduction of the new Drop Dash move. Sonic is still the fastest thing alive, Tails can fly upwards to reach higher platforms, Knuckles can glide and climb up walls, Ray is a mix of Tails and Knuckles, he's able to glide while also being able to reach higher platforms if he has enough room to swoop up, and Mighty has a powerful ground pound. These character, while they behave the same as Sonic, have enough differences in their overall gameplay where they don't feel like the same character.

The levels are easily the highlight of this game. A majority of these levels are ones returning from the Genesis games. They're separated into two acts. The first act has a layout and mechanics similar to when they debuted back in their respective games, while the second act adds something that gives a new spin to the level. The best examples I can think of being, Chemical Plant Act 2, which involves these colorful gels that Sonic needs to jump up to reach higher platforms, and Oil Ocean Act 2, which has a dangerous smog cover the whole level which drains your ring counter. They bring back classic levels for the sake of the fans and nostalgia, but add elements that make them feel like brand new levels.

Now don't think this game is just a rehash of classic Sonic levels, because this game also gives us four new stages in the form of the colorful Studiopolis Zone, the tricky Press Garden Zone, the awesome Mirage Saloon Zone, and the fun but challenging final level, Titanic Monarch Zone. All of these levels have their own unique gimmicks that find themselves right at home in the Sonic series.

Speaking of finding yourself at home in the Sonic series, the graphics are among the best in the series having so much life and color to it, and the soundtrack is one of my favorites in the series. The graphics and sound presentation just ooze Genesis.

What's more is that the re-release, Sonic Mania Plus (which is the version that introduced Ray and Mighty), introduces new modes like Encore Mode where Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Ray, and Mighty are you only means of extra lives and you switch between each character one so happens to die, giving the game another layer of challenge to try and keep them alive as much as you can. You can get them back by playing a fun pinball game, and there's even a four player competition mode.

Add in Special Stages that _don't _suck and is actually fun to play through, a tribute to Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine for Chemical Plant's boss battle, and the returning Blue Sphere Stages from Sonic 3, and you have the ultimate love letter to Sonic fans and my favorite Sonic Game so far. Christian Whitehead, God bless you man. Keep up the good work.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go jam out to Studiopolis Zone Act 1 Music.


	38. Day 38: Splatoon 2

Day 38: Splatoon 2

If I had one reason to actually use Nintendo Online, it would be to go back to playing this game's online mode, this is Splatoon 2, yet another example of an amazing video game sequel.

The main story for this game is rather interesting as it actually was created as a result of the final Splatfest of the first game. In Splatoon, Splatfests are basically events where you pick one of two teams (i.e: Cat vs Dog), and compete in Turf Wars to see who would win. In the final Splatfest of the original game, it boiled down to which of the two Squid Sisters was better, Callie or Marie. In the end, Marie won, and by the time Splatoon 2 came out, Callie has gone missing due to the results. So the story mode of Splatoon 2 involves your player character, Agent 4, going on a hunt for Callie's whereabouts as you take on the returning Octarians.

Gameplay is very similar to the first Splatoon game: Shoot at any and all enemies with your ink, use said ink to turn into a squid for fast travel or climb up walls, and collect power eggs to upgrade your bombs and weapons.

One thing I like about the weapons in Story Mode is how you're not restricted to just your Hero Shot. Depending on what level you enter, Sheldon will give you Chargers, Paint Rollers, Heavy Splatlings, Blasters, Brushes, Sloshers, and the new additions to the game, the Brellas and Dualies. All of the returning weapons do what they did in the last game, but the Brellas act as a shield that moves forward and leaves a trail of ink for you two swim in, while the Dualies allow you to perform this dodge move before you pelt your opponents with ink.

You start each level with one of these weapons, but once you beat it, you can go back and play through the level again with a different weapon, giving the main story loads of replay value on top of collectibles like the Sardinium and the returning Sunken Scrolls.

All of the bosses are really fun to face, and add more layers of challenge and replay value due to the ability to change your weapon once you beat it the first time.

And once your done with the main story, don't forget that this is meant to be an online game, so you'll be spending most of your time getting into Turf Wars, Ranked Battles, and the new additions in the form of League Battles and Salmon Run.

Turf War is self explanatory: Cover the turf in your teams ink color and the team with the most turf covered wins.

Ranked Battles pit you against other players with the same rank as yours in one of four modes. There's Tower Control where you and your team have to take a tower to the other team's goal, Rainmaker where you have to take the Rainmaker weapon into the enemy's base, Splat Zones where you have to cover a certain area in the field with ink, and the team who had the most control wins, and then there's the new Clam Blitz where you have to collect 10 clams to make a Power Clam that you have to throw in your enemy's goal.

League Battles involve you pairing up with other players to score points and win medals.

And then there's Salmon Run where you have to collect as many Salmon Eggs as possible to try and meet a quota before time runs out.

Most of these modes are made all the more fun with new battle arenas to play in, and new sub weapons and special weapons to play with. The new sub weapons this game introduces like the Toxic Mist, Curling Bomb, Autobomb, Torpedo, and Fizzy Bomb are pretty cool to use, it's the special weapons that I freaking adore! As much as I like returning special weapons from the first game like the Inkstrike and Killer Wail, they don't hold a candle to the likes of the Booyah Bomb, Ink Storm, Inkjet, Splashdown, Sting Ray, and Tenta Missiles. All of these weapons are at your disposal to wreck as much havoc on your inkling and octoling bretheren.

Yeah, octolings, did I forget to mention that this game has an Octo Expansion (which is as hard as Nintendo's old NES games) where you play as an Octoling with amnesia and upon beating it you can play as that Octoling, adding more possibilities for character customization which is another feature Splatoon 2 adds. Yeah, between the story mode and its replay value, the fun modes in online, and the Octo Expansion, you'll be playing this game for quite a while.

Overall, Splatoon 2 is just as fun as its predecessor, does so much to build upon what it did right, and is easily one of the best Switch Exclusives you can play. In fact it's my _third _favorite Switch Exclusive. I don't know if Nintendo plans on making a Splatoon 3, but if they do, you bet I'll be looking forward to it…I just have to get a subscription to Nintendo Online first.


	39. Day 39: Kirby Planet Robobot

Day 39: Kirby Planet Robobot

Remember that time when Kirby went Gurren Lagaan all over everybody's ass? Those were the days…but yeah this is Kirby Planet Robobot.

The story this time around involves a spacecraft known as the Access Ark, which is owned by this game's villain, Max Profitt Haltmann. The spacecraft easily takes over Planet Popstar, and with both King Dedede and Meta Knight out of commission, it once again falls on Kirby's pink shoulders to save the day and stop Haltmann from taking over.

Gameplay is no different than the other Kirby games: You run around swallowing enemies for copy abilities, and take an occasional break to solve a puzzle to get this game's collectables, the Code Cubes and Stickers.

To my surprise, a lot of classic copy abilities make a return here like Mirror, Jet, UFO, and freaking Smash Bros., on top new copy abilities, Poison (The best copy ability in the game BTW), Doctor Mari- I mean Doctor, and Ness- I mean ESP.

And then we get to this game's gimmick, the Robobot Armor. Upon riding these mechs, Kirby is able to lift up large objects needed to solve puzzles, enter certain doors, take out larger obstacles, and get stronger version of copy abilities. Flame gives the armor a giant flame thrower, Bomb allows Kirby to fire these walking bombs needed to solve puzzles, Cutter turns the armor's arms into buzz saws, Swords give the armor two giant swords, and Mike allows the armor to fire powerful soundwaves complete with _unlimited use_. And these are only some of the copy abilities the Robobot Armor has. Arguably the best one in my opinion is what happens when the armor gets the Jet ability, and that's when the game turns into a full on 2D shooter. These are some of my favorite levels with the armor and it adds variety to the gameplay. Bottom line, I really like the Robobot Armor as it feels powerful, while not being too OP, and it fits in with this game's industrial motif very well.

Speaking of the levels, let me just say that these are some of the most interesting Kirby levels so far. Each level seems to take on the aforementioned motif of industrialization, with two of the six worlds Kirby visits taking place in urban or city areas. Patched Plains, the first level, gives us a chance to see the beginning stages of Haltmann's conquest of Popstar, Overload Ocean looks like a harbor, and Gigabyte Grounds has what looks like oil rigs in the background. Now it makes sense why Poison is a copy ability, because of all of this damn pollution! Back on topic, there's also the cold and sterile environments that the Haltmann bases and a majority of the Access Ark level offer, and on the subject of the Access Ark, it gets more and more trippy as you venture further, almost like you are in an alien planet. Oh yeah, and there are also stages based on casinos, complete with sements where you have to outrun balls on a roulette wheel. Planet Robobot has easily some of the best designed levels of the series so far.

The only greater than the levels are the bosses, and this game has probably the best roster of bosses in the series. We have Clanky Woods being yet another great iteration of the usually wimpy Whispy Woods, Holo Defense API being a great callback to classic bosses, Susie for giving us an introduction to Haltmann Works Company as a whole, Mecha Meta Knight and Dedede Clone for being challenging and fun takes on classic Kirby bosses, Haltmann for having so much build up to him, and the final battle against Star Dream for the sheer fact that you fight it _as you control the freaking Halberd! _Again, easily the best roster of bosses in the series for me.

As usual you have many different game modes to take on after you beat the game like the staple Arena and True Arena, Kirby 3D Rumble, which is the franchise's first take on anything 3D, and Team Kirby Clash, which is basically what happens when Kirby becomes an RPG, and to top it all off we have Meta Knightmare Returns, which allows you to play through the game again as Meta Knight, and with his own bosses to face. Hell, yeah!

Lastly, this is the first Kirby game in which I paid attention to some of the lore, like how the only reason Haltmann used Star Dream was to get his daughter back after she was sent to Another Dimension, and this caused him to turn into the crazed CEO we know today, and he'd eventually forget that he had a daughter (Spoiler alert that daughter is Susie). Or how Star Dream is made by the same group of Ancients who made Nova, and that's why the Access Ark looks like him during the final phase of the final battle. Very interesting stuff.

With great gimmicks, interesting story and lore, fantastic levels and bosses, and new and interesting modes, Kirby Planet Robobot is without a doubt my favorite Kirby game so far, and no amount of Hypernovas or Super Copy Abilities can change that. I'll take my pink colored mecha out for a spin any day.


	40. Day 40: Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy

Day 40: Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

For my last game before the Top 10, I want to talk about a game from the Crash Bandicoot series. But which game I hear you ask? Oh that's an easy one. I want to talk about the awesomeness, the shear genius, the utter masterpiece…that is…CRASH BOOM BANG!

No, April Fools, it's Crash Bandicoot the N. Sane Trilogy.

It seemed like only yesterday that this series went on what seemed like an infinite hiatus, only showing up in the form of cancelled games and mobile games. But come E3 2016, we were given the ultimate surprise in the form of the N. Sane Trilogy, brilliant remasters of the original PS1 trilogy.

The stories for these three are the same as they were. Crash Bandicoot 1 has Crash escape from Cortex's lab and then venture through the island, its ruins, and some castle and industrial areas to save Tawna from being experimented on. Crash Bandicoot 2 Cortex Strikes Back involves Crash collecting Power Crystals for Cortex, believing that Cortex wants to use them for the great good when meanwhile he wants them to power his Cortex Vortex so he can take over the world. And then Crash Warped involves the release of Dr. Cortex's master, Uka-Uka, and with the help of Dr. N. Tropy's Time Twister Machine, seeks to collect the Power Crystals and Gems from their original places in time, and now it's up to Crash to stop them.

Going into the presentation for a bit, the graphics are just as cartoony and vibrant as ever, made all the more better in HD and given more detail and polish, and the soundtrack in all three games are all given a new coat of paint, making this awesome soundtrack even more awesome.

Now let's talk about that gameplay, because wow there are some changes.

Starting with Crash Bandicoot 1, getting the obvious out of the way, _we can actually save the game properly!_ No more of that, "getting to the end of a bonus area," bullshit from the first game. On top of that, you can actually see how many boxes you've collected, dying a bonus stage gives you a chance to play it again and it doesn't cost a single life, and if you're going after the box gem…_it's okay to die! You don't lose your chance on getting it!_ I don't know how Vicarious Visions did it, but they made the first Crash game…for lack of better words…good!

Crash Bandicoot's 2 and 3 don't really do much different in terms of gameplay. You can still hang from monkey bars in these games, and Crash 3 brings back Crash's improved body slam, death tornado spin, fruit bazooka, double jump, and crash dash for speed runs. So, the first Crash game really got it good with gameplay improvements.

All three games boil down to a collect-a-thon where you need to break boxes to get gems, collect each level's power crystal, get colored gems, keys, or find secret areas to unlock alternate pathways or open up new levels respectively, and when you beat a level, go back into it to tackle a time trial challenge for a relic. On the subject of time trials, they actually give these challenges to the levels in Crash 1 and 2! Granted, unlike Crash 3, the levels in those games weren't built with speed running in mind, but it's still a nice touch which adds a good sum of replay value.

This game also adds more mechanics beyond your usual platforming. There's animal riding stages (pig for Crash 1, Polar bear for Crash 2, and tiger for Crash 3), plane flying stages, jet pack stages, jet ski stages, underwater stages that don't suck, and motorcycle races.

I also really adore the level design. Crash 1 might have been limited since it boils down to jungles, jungle ruins, factory, and castle levels, but Crash 2 adds more variety beyond that like polar regions, mountain regions, sewer stages, and space stages. And then we get to Crash 3 which takes us to numerous points in time like the Medieval Era, the Prehistoric Age, Ancient China, Ancient Arabia, Ancient Egypt, the freaking Future! All of these levels are well designed with loads of obstacles and enemies to overcome.

The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is one of the best examples outside of Pokémon I can think of when it comes to remaking a game for the current generation. Hopefully this means more attention will be paid to our favorite orange marsupial, and if the remake to Crash Team Racing is anything to go by, I'd say Crash won't be leaving us anytime soon.


	41. Day 41: Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

Day 41: Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

A good way to start off a Top 10 is to talk about my favorite game in the Kingdom Hearts series, and that's the awesomeness that is Birth by Sleep.

Before I played this game, the only other Kingdom Hearts game I played was Dream Drop Distance on the 3DS, and I thought it was an okay game, nothing too groundbreaking. But then I played Birth by Sleep, and I was utterly blown away by it. For one thing, this story serves as a prequel to the main series…while also being a sequel of another prequel…Kingdom Hearts' overall story is a freaking mess isn't it?

Anyway, the story centers around a group of friends, Ventus, Aqua, and Terra, who are also a group of keyblade wielders trained under the watch of Master Eraqus. One day, Terra and Aqua take their Mark of Mastery Exam, held by Eraqus and the main series villain Master Xehanort, to see who will become the newest Keyblade Master. Aqua passes while Terra fails after failing to keep the darkness in his heart in check. Sometime later, Xehanort disappears and the worlds a threatened by an enemy known as the Unversed, this game's version of the Heartless. Now it's up to Terra, Aqua, and Ventus to find Xehanort and save the worlds from the Unversed while also hoping to find its source.

Since this takes place before the first Kingdom Hearts game, the characters that our attention is drawn to are the likes of our heroes, and the villains of this game, Xehanort and Vanitas. It's at this point in the game where we see everything that sets the events of future games in motion. The creation of Castle Oblivion, the origin of Lingering Will, how Pete wound up working for Maleficent, the members of Organization XIII before they became nobodies, what Hallow Bastion looked like when it was Radiant Garden, and just what happened to Ventus, Aqua, and Terra. Yeah, all three of their stories end on a very depressing note, but like I said, it's to set up the story for future games in the series.

Onto the characters themselves, Ventus is an interesting character with a nice backstory, actually being Xehanort's pupil at one point. We don't know much about Aqua and Terra's backstory, but their overall personalities and struggles they go through more than make up for that, especially Aqua, who wants to protect her friends while also taking on the responsibilities of Keyblade Master.

And then we get to the villains of the game, Xehanort and Vanitas. Before Kingdom Hearts 3 made this character jump the shark, Xehanort was one hell of an intimidating villain, never afraid to manipulate anyone to get what he wants, especially Terra. As for Vanitas, he's the source of the Unversed, and born from the darkness within Ventus' heart.

All of these characters have interesting stories, struggles, and personalities that I love to follow.

As per usual though, when you're not focusing on a Kingdom Hearts game's story or characters, you're focusing on its gameplay and usage of Disney worlds, and in terms of the latter we got some really interesting worlds.

We have worlds based on the older Disney films like Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. We actually get to explore Neverland, there's this place called Disney Town where you can interact with all of the classic characters and play mini-games, Olympus Colloseum…got a bit of a downgrade, but it's serviceable enough I guess, and we actually got a Lilo & Stitch level based on the opening of the movie and how Stitch, known as Experiment 626, escaped to Earth.

There's also hidden data that suggests that a world based on The Jungle Book was also meant to be added. I like to pretend that in a parallel universe we got a version of Birth by Sleep that has this.

On top of original worlds and Disney worlds, Birth by Sleep also gives us The Mirage Arena, a place where you can level up by beating up hoards of Unversed and stronger version of the bosses along with some new ones.

As for the gameplay, it's all the keyblade slashing and magic casting that we all know and love. But setting this game apart from the rest is how this game introduces the Shot Lock commands, allowing you to unleash a powerful attack on your enemy. There's also Dimension Links, or D-Links, you can form with other characters. Using a D-Link refills your health, gives you a custom moveset, and you can even form your own finishing move based on whatever character you linked up with if you fill up your command gauge enough.

Birth by Sleep also allows players to fuse moves together to great stronger and better moves. You can level up these moves by either fighting Unversed on the field, or by playing this Fortune Street game called 'The Command Board,' I never really cared for this mode, but if you're a fan of games like Fortune Street or Mario Party, this should be right up your alley.

Finally, I want to talk about the bosses. Now, while most of the Unversed bosses aren't anything too special, boss battles against the likes of Braig, Eraqus, the final battles in all three stories, and the final confrontation with Terra-Xehanort in Radiant Garden are some of the best battles the series has to offer. They're so cinematic with such high stakes and great challenge that it's hard for me not to like them. Sure occasionally I get a cheap death, but I take a deep breath and just say, "One more time!"

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is, in my opinion, the best Kingdom Hearts game for giving us the best Disney Worlds, spectacular boss battles, interesting story with interesting characters, and doing a great job at explaining future events and setting up the story for the rest of the series. I can easily recommend this game as a starting point for anyone looking to get into the series, and recommend it as one of the best Action RPGs of the last decade.


	42. Day 42: Super Smash Bros Ultimate

Day 42: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Let me tell you something, everyone, if we're in the top 10, then I must think highly of the following eight is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate of all games has only made #9.

Ever since this game's announcement in March 2018 and release that following December, the hype and adoration surrounding this game hasn't died down at all.

Let's get into the reasons why Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is, in my opinion, the quintessential fighting game.

First off: The roster! As you've heard many times before, and I'm sure many times after: Everyone is here! From staple characters, to characters that appeared only in one or two entries, to DLC characters from the franchise's previous installment, yeah I'd say everyone is here alright. As for the newbies, we have welcome additions in the form of the Inklings, Incineroar, Dark Samus, Isabelle, and Ken from Street Fighter, but then we get fighters that people have been asking for for years like Ridley, King K. Rool, and Simon Belmot. The vanilla version of this game had 74 characters alone, and we got six new DLC fighters since launch in the forms of Piranha Plant, Byleth, Hero from Dragon Quest series, Terry from Fatal Fury, _Joker from Persona 5, and Banjo-Kazooie!_ And there's even more DLC on the way with a character from ARMS revealed to be the next fighter, and we have five more coming after that. **(Here's to hoping it's Shantae, Sora, Bandana Waddle Dee, Rayman, and Travis Touchdown)**.

Another interesting thing about this roster is how they each have their own Classic modes, allowing you to take on different foes in different arenas, and the overall theme of your enemies usually match up with whatever franchise the playable character comes from. For example, if you choose Bayonetta as your fighter, then you'll be taking characters that can fly since she's all about hunting and killing angels. Furthermore, each Classic mode has its own story behind it. Yeah, over 80 stories are made, one for each individual character. That's amazing!

On top of Classic mode, there's also regular Smash where you can play with friends or by yourself and just have a smashing good time, Tourney which involves brawls in a tournament style game, Squad Strike where 3-5 of your characters face 3-5 other characters, Special Smash where you can compete in games like Smashdown and Sudden Death matches as well as create your own custom brawls, Mob Smash where you can either take on 100 enemies as fast as you can (With Cruel Smash maxing out the CPU level) or take on the entire roster to see how far you can get, Training mode, Spirit Boards to get more spirits to customize and power-up your character, and this game's Adventure Mode, World of Light: A story mode where you must save the world after Galeem basically Thanos snaps the entire bar Kirby roster out of existence, and you go toe to toe with an assortment of spirits and compete in some fun and interesting challenges.

And with the updates this game received, we got more classic modes like Home Run Contests, Stage Building, New stages and music tracks, and customization options for your Miis like the previously mentioned Cuphead and Sans.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate is not only an amazing crossover game, but a magnificent tribute to video game history, and with five other DLC fighters left to cover along with more updates to accompany them, this is game is definitely a gift that keeps on giving. Sakurai, if you're reading this…which you're probably not and won't, take a vacation after this game is done, man. You deserve it! Thank you for giving us the best Smash Bros. game to date.


	43. Day 43: LoZ: Ocarina & Majora

Day 43: The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mask

Time for another Zelda game, and time for another double decker entry. This one goes to the always classic N64/3DS duology, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask. Remember when I said way back when I talked about Pac-Man World 2 I had to change an entry around at the last minute. Yeah, I originally intended on having these two games be different entries in this marathon, but eventually I decided that these two deserve to share the glory as my favorite Zelda game. So let's start with Ocarina of Time.

Part 1: Ocarina of Time

Our hero Link is brought to the Great Deku Tree by Navi the fairy, (who is overrhated at best, stop hating on her, come off it!) and the Great Deku Tree warns Link of a wicked man from the desert, A.K.A Ganondorf, who wants to conquer the world and now it's up to Link to stop him. So after visiting Zelda, Link searches for the Spiritual Stones which he brings to the Temple of Time where he finds the Master Sword that takes him seven years into the future, long past when Ganondorf just…fucked up the world. Now Link must go to the other five temples of Hyrule to get assistance from the other sages of Hyrule so they can imprison Ganondorf once and for all.

So the story is something you'd expect from a Zelda game, but with time travel involved. Actually the time travel is a nice gimmick as there are plenty of puzzles to solve involving this mechanic such as planting beans in the past allow them to grow in the future, and you can use those fully grown beans as platforms to reach areas where you can find Golden Skultulas or Heart Pieces. And the Spirit Temple involves going through one half has Child Link and the other half as Adult Link. And on that note, I really like how each of the sages, bar Rauru, are all characters that Link befriended as a child. It's almost like Link grew up with these characters.

In fact, I've heard a lot of people say that Ocarina of Time is about growing up, leaving your home like Link did in search of a big adventure out in the big world, and how characters from your childhood may come back when you're an adult. Some of them remember you like the friends they are, and others like the Kokiri don't even remember you. If this theory is the case, then Ocarina of Time has one of the most brilliant themes in any story I've heard.

But I'm done gushing about the story, let's talk more about the gameplay and the world of Hyrule. I already talked about how traveling between the past and the future is an interesting gameplay mechanic, so let's talk about the overworld. Hyrule, while it doesn't look like much by today's standars, was a big deal back in 1998. Tons of NPCs to interact with, all with unique sidequests for you to complete. Collecting a woman's Cucco's will give you a bottle to use for potions, fairies, and a vast assortment of other items, collecting skultula tokens will help lift the curse off of these innocent people in an abandoned house, helping save Lon Lon Ranch from Ingo gives you your horse Epona, a series of errands leads to you getting the powerful Big Goron Sword, I could go on. Bottom line, Ocarina of Time gives you a lot to do, with great rewards. Most of these sidequests are fun, as such they have fun and interesting ways to beat them, and the reward is usually worth it in my opinion.

The dungeons in this game, Water Temple not with standing, are very well thought out, fun to go through with loads of fun puzzles and a great boss battle at the end, and very atmospheric. Actually, you know what, even the Water Temple has some atmospheric music to go with it. There, that's the one good thing I have to say about that dungeon, don't get used to it!

On the subject of bosses and atmosphere, the final battle against Ganon is one of the most cinematic and atmospheric Zelda bosses so far, and really set the bar for most final bosses following it. The atmosphere is perfect, dark skies loom above as you fight in the ruins of Ganon's Castle and fire surrounds you two. Each strike Ganon gives to you elicits a scream of pure terror from Zelda. The music is ominous and adrenaline pumping, telling you that this is the final battle. Also, on the N64 version, some people complain that you can't see Ganon at all given he's mostly in shadow, I think that works to the battle's advantage because it emphasizes the fact that you're going up against a fearsome beast, and sometimes not seeing anything is scarier than what you can see. This is regarded as one of the best final bosses in gaming, and for good reason.

Alright, I'm done gushing about the final battle, let's move on.

Combat really stepped up here. Since this is the first 3D Zelda, a lock on feature has been implemented so taking down enemies can be done much more efficiently. As usual to take down each enemy, you're given a wide variety of arrows, bombs, shields, swords, etc. to get the job done.

The titular Ocarina is also a great gameplay element as it can help solve puzzles to advance through the dungeon or advance the story, help Link in a sidequest, and Sun's Song is a godsend for anyone not patient enough to wait for time to pass.

So yeah, with all of these positives, Ocarina of Time is one hell of a way to start Link's adventures in the third dimension.

And then we get to Majora's Mask…

Part 2: Majora's Mask

Set some time after Ocarina, Link goes on an adventure in search of Navi who disappears after the last game. It's at this point when he meets a Skull Kid wearing, what else, Majora's Mask. He robs Link of Epona and his Ocarina, and turns Link into a Deku Scrub. Deku Link then finds himself in the land of Termina and meets up with The Happy Mask Salesman, who tells him that Skull Kid robbed him of Majora's Mask and needs it back in three days…which is also how long it takes for the moon to fall down to Earth and kill everyone. Now Link must find a way to turn back into human, save Termina from all of the damage Skull Kid caused, save the world from the apocalypse, and return Majora's Mask to the Happy Mask Salesman, all in three days.

Let's start by talking about the gameplay, because it really hasn't changed much since Ocarina. You have your lock on feature, a vast assortment of weapons and shields, and you go through a dungeon with lots of puzzles and enemies with you fighting a boss at the end, you get the picture. But then we get a vast assortment of masks to go with that vast assortment of weapons and shields. The Bunny Hood allows you to run faster, the Great Fairy Mask allows you to find Stray Fairies throughout each dungeon which you need to reassemble the Great Fairy so you can get an upgrade, and the Stone Mask allows you to sneak by stealth required areas unnoticed. There are even masks that are required for a certain puzzle, like the Keaton Mask is needed to meet a Keaton so you can take its quiz, the Captain's Hat is needed to open the graves in the Ikana Graveyard, the Bremen's Mask is needed to turn this farmer's chicks into Cuccos, and more.

And then we get to the transformation masks, and they add new elements to Link's overall gameplay that turn this game into a new beast entirely. The Deku Mask turns Link into Deku Link. With it, he can blow these bubbles from his mouth, and use these flowers to fly into the air to either reach higher platforms or air bomb enemies with Deku Nuts. The Goron Mask turns Link into Goron Link. Goron Link is given stronger punches, a ground pound, and you can harness your inner Sonic the Hedgehog and roll around at the speed of sound. The Zora Mask turns Link into Zora Link. This allows Link to swim underwater indefinitely, use his fins like boomerangs, and he can use his magic to create an electrified shield. Finally there's Fierce Diety Link, which can only be unlocked in the final area. With it, you can _trash literally any boss fight like they're nothing!_

The Ocarina returns in this game, and it's used for the same reasons it was in the first game. Use it to solve puzzles, open up dungeons, and overall progress in the game. But then we get the Song of Time and the Song of Healing. The Song of Time has a much bigger role in this game than the last one as it's needed to go back to the first day when the moon inches closer and closer to Termina. You can also use Inverted Song of Time to make time go to a standstill, and Song of Double Time to move ahead so you don't have to wait until a certain time for something to happen. As for Song of Healing, that's how you get the Transformation Masks from Darmani the Goron and Mikau the Zora, as well as the Gibdo Mask from Pamela's father. In the former, when we play the Song of Healing, we get visions of the happy life they wanted. Darmani wanted to be adored as a hero by his people, and Mikau wanted to see his girlfriend Lulu again and play with his band, the Indigogos. But, naturally, this doesn't happen, and they die with the only things remaining are the Transformation Masks. As for Pamela's father, he was turned into a Gibdo and after you heal him, Pamela runs up to him crying happily that he's back to normal. The interaction here is absolutely heartwarming.

**Dad: (Embracing his daughter) Pamela! What have I been doing this whole time?**

**Pamela: You…haven't been doing anything. You had a bad dream. You were just having a little nightmare.**

**Dad: …Pamela**

And on this note, I want to talk about probably my favorite thing in this game: The humanity displayed during the final day and especially during the final hours of the game. This is mainly shown through this game's side quests.

When you meet the Cucco farmer at Romani Ranch, he's well aware of his fate and he accepts it rather stoically. When you solve the debate in the Mayor's office, Mutoh, who wanted to hold the Carnival of Time regardless of the circumstances almost as if nothing is wrong, is left alone where he says this after his worker left him for shelter…

**Mutoh: Cowards! All of you! Not a one of you stayed! My apprentice will be disgusted with all of you! I'll have a fine carnival without you…If you're going to fall then fall already!**

If I didn't know any better, and it's just a theory, I'd say Mutoh wanted the Carnival to go on so that he can at least be happy in his final moments.

There's the Swordsman at the dojo, who tries to act tough by saying he'll chop the moon in half, but come the final day he's in the back room scared out of his mind.

There's Cremia and Romani, whose side quests require almost the entire three day cycle. Cremia is aware of everything that's going on, but Romani isn't. So come the final day, assuming you've done everything right, you find the sisters in the barn and Romani, still blissfully unaware of what's going to happen, says that she is going to be given Chateau Romani, this game's version of alcohol. Cremia is basically giving her little sister alcohol to dull her senses to everything that's going on. Furthermore, she asks Cremia to sleep in her bed with her so that she doesn't have to suffer alone, and when you leave they say goodbye, but Romani says it like there's tomorrow is going to be there while Cremia knows that isn't the case.

There's the Postman who wants to flee town and search for shelter, but he's someone who is so dedicated to his work he doesn't want to leave since fleeing town isn't on the schedule, so you have to give him Kafei's letter so he can give it to his mom, the mayor's wife, so she can order him to leave town!

On the subject of Kafei's mom, she's at the Milk Bar drowning her sorrows, worrying about her son's life unaware that he's been turned into a little boy thanks to Skull Kid.

There's Mr. Barten, the Milk Bar's Bartender, who says that throughout the end of the world he was hoping he'd see his favorite customer…and that customer is you! You the player, and you as in Link!

And then the big one, the Kafei sidequest. In this sidequest, you help Kafei and Anju in a series of missions, in an attempt to have them meet again. Come literally an hour before the end of the world, and the two of them get married, with Link as their witness, and give these final words:

"**Please take refuge, we are fine here. We shall greet the morning…together"**

And just about all of these moments are set to the most distressing and beautifully tragic pieces of music I've ever heard, made all the more harrowing due to the red skies, earthquakes, and the clock tower bell ringing.

All of these moments deliver serious goosebumps, pull at your heartstrings, and are made all the more amazing when you defeat Majora and restore peace to Termina.

The characters and overall story in Majora's Mask really overshadow the dungeons and mingames as a result.

If Ocarina of Time is more gameplay oriented, the Majora's Mask is definitely more character/story oriented. Together, these two, in my opinion, make for some of the best Zelda games, the best N64 games, and my personal favorite Zelda games period.

Long live Hyrule and long live Termina.


	44. Day 44: Pokémon Black & White 1 & 2

Day 44: Pokémon Black & White 1 & 2

Last double decker entry for the marathon and it's for my favorite Pokémon games. Many people as well as myself believe that the franchise peaked at the DS era, and the highest point being the main series games of Generation 5, Pokémon Black & White 1 and 2.

Both games have a similar overall story. You know how it goes: Travel town to town, eight badges, rival fights, evil team with legendaries, blah, blah, blah. We've heard it all a million times.

But one interesting thing I like about the first game is that you don't initially fight the Champion. You take on the Elite Four and find that one of the game's main antagonist's, N, has beaten the Champion and you take the fight to his castle. That's a really cool change of pace.

On that note, let's talk about the main villains of the two games, Team Plasma. These guys are my favorite villains in the series. In the first B/W game, they bring up an interesting point on liberating Pokémon and how they feel they are oppressed by trainers. Never before this game has an evil team made you question the morality of this series' main concept. Like, would Pokémon be happier in the wild, not owned by a trainer? But what if the Pokémon and the trainer bonded so much that they can't bear to be apart? Team Plasma is a unique team with excellent motivation…until Ghetsis comes along and reveals it was all a ruse so that only _he _can be allowed to use Pokémon. Basically another dickhead looking for world domination, never heard that one before! (By the way I'm being sarcastic)

In Black 2 & White 2, Team Plasma has since broken up, forming two forces in the process. One is led by N, who seeks atonement for what he's done in the last game, and the other is lead by Ghetsis who resorts to terrorism to control Unova. I personally liked Team Plasma a bit more in the first game, it's interesting to see how we have two different Team Plasmas, one fighting for peace and the other seeking endless destruction. Speaking of Team Plasma I want to talk about the character Colress. An interesting specimen his character is. He's one of the highest ranking members in Neo Team Plasma, and for the most part he doesn't really seem to care about what the team is doing, mainly focusing on figuring out the true strength of Pokémon and occasionally helping the player out with any Crustle that are blocking the way. While his allegiances do align with Neo Team Plasma, as he doesn't agree with Old Team Plasma's view of Pokémon liberation, Colress is such an interesting character in that his motivations aren't in line with the motivations of his team, and he remains mostly neutral throughout the game.

On the subject of these games' characters, you'll notice that the Black and White duology is slightly more mature when compared to its predecessors. And that's mainly shown with the rival characters, Cheren and Bianca in the first game, and Hugh in the second game. Starting with Cheren, he wants to become a strong trainer, but many times when he reveals that fact he's often met with the question of why he wants to become stronger. It's a question that even Cheren himself wonders. It's almost like when you ask a kid what he or she wants to be when he/she grows up. Bianca wants independence from her father so she can follow her dream of being a Pokémon Trainer. And Hugh wants revenge on Team Plasma for stealing his sister's Purrloin from years ago. These themes of independence, growing up, and revenge are things not previously seen in games prior and I have to respect this duology for shining light on them. Hell, in terms of Cheren and Bianca they end up turning out to be great people with the former being Aspertia City's Gym Leader and Bianca being Professor Juniper's assistant.

Another thing that sets these games apart from the rest of the main series are how the Gym Leaders get more involved that in previous entries. They all have unique personalities and have their own roles in the main story. They're more than just roadblocks you have to beat in order to progress.

Next thing I want to talk about are these game's Pokémon roster. Generation 5 gives us arguably the largest number of Pokémon so far, clocking in at 156. While I like Generation 4's roster a little bit more, this generation's Pokédex still brings a lot to the table. My favorites in this generation have to be the starters, Stoutland, Zebstrika, Excadrill, Krookodile, Seismitoad, Sawk and Throh, Darmanitan, Scraftly, Sigilyph, Archaeops, Zoroark, Vanilluxe, Escavalier, Jellicent, Ferrothorn, Eelektross, Haxorus, Chandelure, Braviary, Volcarona, and most of the legendaries.

One interesting thing about the two games' dexes are how the first Black and White only has Pokémon of this, at the time, new generation, leaving you to figure out the types and stats of each new mon as you encounter them, basically telling you not to rely on only your favorites. But for those of you who do have a problem with this (*cough* Genwunners *cough*) Black 2 and White 2 give us familiar faces from previous generations for you to catch as well, giving you near limitless possibilities for a great team.

This is a great duology of games in terms of roster, story, and characters, that I have yet to bring up other mechanics like the new Triple/Rotation Battles, adding new layers of strategy to battles, this generation being the one to introduce reusable TMs, and time wasters like the Pokémon Musical, Battle Subway, Dream World, and Black 2/White 2 exclusives in the forms of Pokéstar Studios, Medal Collecting, and this games substitute for a Battle Frontier, the PWT, a place where you can battle a plethora of trainers, including gym leaders from this generation and previous ones.

These games pack so much and do so much to innovate the franchise (the sprites actually move now holy shit!) that I can easily this is as nothing more than the best game in the Pokémon series so far. Unova forever indeed!


	45. Day 45: Shovel Knight Treasure Trove

Day 45: Shovel Knight Treasure Trove

The title for my sixth favorite game belongs to my favorite Indie game. With this in mind I just have to ask…Can you dig it?

All bad puns aside, Shovel Knight is an amazing game made even better with three separate DLC stories.

Starting with the vanilla game, Shovel Knight Shovel of Hope, the story follows Shovel Knight as he embarks on a quest to stop the evil Enchantress and her Order of No Quarter in hopes of saving his friend, Shield Knight.

Gameplay is very similar to NES games of old. You have an overworld map that harkens back to Super Mario Bros 3, villages that give off Zelda II vibes, you can face the bosses in any order you want just like in Mega Man, you're given sub weapons like in Mega Man or Castlevania, and Shovel Knight's downward attack is literally Scrooge McDuck's Cane.

Due to the vast amount of subweapons and armor you can equip, you are given a lot of different ways to go through each awesome level with awesome new mechanics and fight each awesome boss fight.

One thing I like about when you die in this game is that there really is not penalty, technically there is you lose some of your money, but even then you can still get it back and you don't have extra lives to lose. Maybe it's a good thing this game doesn't have lives because this game can get pretty difficult at points. We are dealing with a homage to old NES games after all.

The story in Shovel of Hope is rather simple and doesn't focus too much on characters, but then we get to the DLC stories. Plague Knight's Plague of Shadows, Specter Knight's Specter of Torment, and King's Knight's King of Cards.

I just want to say, for the record, I love the Order of No Quarter. They all have fun battles and their own unique personality, so making side games following three of the order's members is a great idea because we get to learn more about them.

Plague Knight follows a similar story to Shovel Knight but from his point of view and we get to learn how he has ulterior motives for joining the order, and how he's romantically interested in Mona.

Specter Knight acts as a prequel to the game as it follows Specter Knight as he works for the Enchantress in recruiting the members for the Order of No Quarter, and we get to learn about his past and how he used to work with someone named Luan in stealing the Tower of Fate's treasure and the events that led to him working for the Enchantress.

Finally, King Knight, much like Specter of Torment, also acts as a prequel that tells the events that led up to King Knight becoming a member of the Order of No Quarter and ascended to the throne.

Characters in Shovel Knight's story that initially weren't important end up become major plot devices in these DLC stories, like Mona in Plague of Shadows, Reize in Specter of Torment, and just about every villager in King of Card's.

Furthermore, each DLC delivers differences in gameplay that make them feel different from one another. All of the characters still have sub-weapons and armor types that'll help you out on your journey, but Plague Knight's main weapon are his bombs which he can use for throwing or gaining a bit of high with his jump. Specter Knight can run up walls, ride grind rails with his scythe, and a dash slash which acts as a hookshot to get over big gaps as well as a homing attack for enemies. And King Knight can dash into enemies with his shoulder and perform this twirl that acts as a jump attack. King Knight also introduces this game called Joustus where you have to have your cards cover more gems than the other players. It's an okay game mode that adds a bit of challenge and I can see puzzle fans get invested in it, but this game mode is not for me personally.

And finally, the presentation is top notch really selling that old school video game feeling, especially with that ear catching chip tuned soundtrack that only the likes of Jake Kaufman and Manami Matsume could provide.

Oh, and one more thing, you know how Shovel Knight is only an assist trophy in Smash Ultimate, well one day Shovel Knight decided "Oh, you don't want to make me a fighter? That's fine, I'll just make my own!" I haven't played Shovel Knight Showdown myself, but the concept sounds pretty cool and I can't wait to try it out.

What else can I say except Shovel Knight Treasure Trove is my favorite indie game of all time, and no amount of sentient porcelain, luchadors, half genies, or amnesiac furries with talking swords can convince me otherwise.


	46. Day 46: Spider-Man (PS4)

Day 46: Spider-Man (PS4)

Licensed games, licensed games, licensed games. What's there to say about these types of games that already hasn't been said. They're pretty much the mixed bag of the gaming industry. You've got some good ones and you've got some…not so good ones. Most of the time you'll find the latter, but in some cases you find some real gems. For every Superman 64, E.T, or literally any LJN game, there are games like the Batman Arkham Series, Ultimate Ninja Storm series, South Park Stick of Truth and Fractured But Whole, and Spongebob Battle for Bikini Bottom. But I think my personal favorite licensed game belongs to my personal favorite Marvel hero. So kicking off the Top 5 of this marathon, we have Insomniac's Spider-Man!

Can I just start by saying that 2018 might as well be called the year of Spider-Man? Because on top of an amazing feature in the form of Into the Spider-Verse and Tom Holland doing the web slinger proud once again in Infinity War, we have what I believe to be the best PS4 game I've played so far.

The story is straight from something like the comic books, dare I say it's almost MCU worthy. It's starts out normal enough with Spider-Man, A.K.A Peter Parker, stopping the Kingpin from doing his misdeeds, but this triggers a domino effect that starts with a new band of villains called 'The Demons' to arise, and they're led by Mr. Negative/Martin Li. Their goal is to unleash a deadly virus upon New York, but fortunately Spider-Man stops them. Unfortunately, Peter has also been working on a project with Doctor Otto Octavius involving creating mechanical limbs, and Octavius tries them out on himself, but they make him go coo coo for cocoa puffs, and he releases all of the prisoners on Riker's Island as a result, including Mr. Negative, Vulture, Scorpion, Rhino, and Electro…and then the virus gets released. Now it's up to Spider-Man to find a cure for this coronavirus wannabe, take care of these new threats, along with Silver Sable and her private military because Spider-Man didn't have enough on his plate already, and overall be the hero you were always meant to be.

One interesting aspect about the story is how it doesn't start with Peter getting bit by the spider that turns him into Spider-Man, hell we don't even get to see Uncle Ben die for the billionth time. We start this story long after Peter graduated high school and college, and now he's trying to balance his life as Spider-Man with his personal and work life, and this story can take some dark turns, especially towards the end. Not going to give away what happens, but you will feel for Peter at the end of it all.

On the subject of Peter Parker, Yuri Lowenthal does a great job playing the geeky Peter Parker as well as the wisecracking action hero Spider-Man.

This game is yet another sandbox game, very similar to the likes of the Spider-Man 2 video game. So naturally there's a lot to do here to distract you from the main game. You can collect backpacks to unlock more suits, stop crimes commited by Kingpin's goons, the Demons, Sable's military, or the prisoner's on Riker's, take out enemy based owned by said crime factions, solve puzzles at Octavius lab, do these Task Master Challenges that really test your skills with the game, go to Harry Osborn's research stations, take selfies of landmarks around the city (including Avenger's Tower, Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, and the Wakandan Embassy) or just be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and help the citizens of New York with whatever problem they have.

To get from mission to mission, you can either do fast travel where we see Spider-Man just hanging out in the subway, or you can get there the fun way and swing from building to building. I swear this game does a fantastic job making you feel like Spider-Man in this regard.

As the game progresses, you have the ability to upgrade your skills and special weapons, the latter of which you can get by purchasing costumes based on other iteration of Spider-Man. And the best part is that you don't need to have a certain costume equipped in order to have a weapon you like. For example, you like the Iron Spider's special ability, 'Iron Arms' but you don't like the actual suit…for some reason. You can keep the Iron Arms, but have a different costume too.

Overall, this is an utter masterpiece of a licensed game and one of the best things to have Spider-Man's name attached to it, and by the looks of the post-credit scene at the end of the game (This is Marvel, I'd be more surprised if they didn't do something like this) there is a lot of potential for an even better sequel. This is an absolutely fantastic game right down to the last puddle.


	47. Day 47: Kid Icarus Uprising

Day 47: Kid Icarus Uprising

Once upon a time there was a little known game NES game called Kid Icarus. It was a game bathed in Greek Mythology that starred a young angel named Pit, who had to save his goddess Palutena and the land of Skyworld from Medusa and her Underworld Army. It was regarded as one of the classic NES games and it even got itself a sequel on the grey brick we know as the Game Boy and after that…nothing. No one has heard or seen Pit in years. Eventually, everyone just sort of forgot about him. But then on one fateful day, Nintendo released a trailer for their then new Super Smash Bros. Brawl game where they revealed that Pit, the very same angel from all those years ago, would be one of the new fighters for the game. Gamers of that generation didn't know who this angel was, and before Nintendo knew it they were getting requests for a new game from the franchise that is Kid Icarus…And the rest is video game history.

My favorite 3DS game and coming in at #4, we have the utter masterpiece that is Kid Icarus Uprising, the very game that brought Pit out from obscurity and launched a thousand requests for sequels, remakes, and anything in between…and we're still waiting on said sequels, remakes, and anything in between. Hey, Sakurai, after you're done with Smash Ultimate and your subsequent vacation, how about giving us Kid Icarus Uprising 2, eh?

The story follows Pit and Palutena as they try and take down the Underworld army after Medusa mysteriously comes back to life. Not even halfway through the game, we learn that Hades is responsible for bringing Medusa and her commanders back to life and here is where the game picks up as on top of dealing with Hades and the Underworld Army, this opens the gates for other threats like Viridi and her Forces of Nature, an alien race known as the Aurum, and a soul snatching being known as the Chaos Kin to also join the fray. And did I also mention there's a race of space pirates that pay homage to Metroid, and Pit has a dark doppelganger named Pittoo?

**Dark Pit: Seriously, that is the last time I want to hear Pittoo!**

"**Fine, fine, Dark Pit!"**

It now falls on Pit's shoulder's to take out all of these threats before any damage can be done.

Gameplay is split up into two segments, air battle and land battle:

Starting with Air battle it plays like an on rails shooter, something along the lines of Sin & Punishment. You can perform air dodges and fly through majestic landscapes as you shoot your enemies out of the sky and use Special Attacks as a sort of screen nuke. This form of gameplay is rather self explanatory. Also, off topic, Kid Icarus Uprising is one of the best looking games on the 3DS, and they really shine during these air battle sections. Here would be a good a time as any to turn on the 3D slider.

But now we get to Land Battles. Alright, let's the elephant in the room out of the way, let's talk about the controls. You shoot with the L button, move with the analog stick, and aim by using the touch screen and stylus. That doesn't sound too bad…if not for the fact that the touch screen and stylus also control the camera. A lot of people really don't like this control scheme, and while I fully admit it's far from perfect, I personally don't mind this control scheme as much as other. Sure it takes some getting used to, but once you do, the land sections are actually kind of fun. And besides they always offer a control configuration menu in the options.

Land battles play out like a third person shooter, with large and open areas for you to shoot enemies, or explore to earn yourself a treasure in the form of hearts, weapons, powers, or health recovery items. Exploration is especially encouraged on higher difficulties as playing on or above a certain difficulty will open up these things called Intensity Gates. These gates can lead you to a treasure, take you to a separate part of a level, and occasionally act as a short cut.

Assisting you in land battles are the vehicles of the gods. There's the Exotank, which allows you to ram into enemies and jump off of ramps. There's the Cherubot, a battle mech that allows Pit to hit enemies hard when up close, shoot rapid fire when far away, or perform a ground pound. And there's the Aether Ring, another weapon with a rapid fire ranged attack, but also can put up a shield that damages enemies on contact.

Pit also gains access to a wide variety of weapons. In total there are nine classes.

There's the Blade class, a balanced weapon in both range and melee.

The staffs, which have great range for sniping, but the shots aren't homing and there's poor melee ability.

Claws, which allow Pit to move faster and have great melee ability but poor ranged ability.

Bows, another good ranged weapon with homing and a decent melee weapon.

Palms, another great homing weapon with rapid fire, but poor range.

Clubs, powerful melee weapons with charge shots that can travel through walls, but lower movement speed.

Cannons, another weapon with poor movement speed, but makes up for it with bouncing shots and great damage output.

Orbitars, weapons with great high shot rate.

And Arms, weapons with great melee attacks but poor ranged attacks.

All of these weapons are very unique and fun to try, making for some great replay value to go back into each level with each weapon class.

Speaking of replay value, this game highly encourages going back into each level as it offers various Treasure Hunts, where more squares get unlocked each time you do something special in each level. These can range from finishing a chapter in a certain time, beating a chapter on a certain intensity, beating a chapter with a certain weapon class, and so much more.

If you get bored with the main story, for whatever reason, Kid Icarus Uprising offers other game modes to expand your playtime. There's training modes to try out different weapons in land and air combat, Idol Toss to get more idols of characters/enemies/locations/weapons in the game (Idols are basically this game's equivalent to Smash Bros. trophies), AR Battle to scan the AR cards that come with the game so you can watch your cards engage in combat, the usual Street Pass that can be found with most 3DS games, and off course Multiplayer mode.

Multiplayer Mode is easily the most fun you'll have with this game outside of the main story. There's free-for-all, which is essentially 'every man for himself' combat mode, and the player to score the most points wins. And then there's Light vs. Dark, where six players, three on Light side and three on Dark, battle each other and the first person on each team to lose their health gets replaced by either Pit or Dark Pit, and the team to take out each team's respective angel wins the match.

And finally, I want to talk about the best thing about this game, the characters. Between the charismatic Pit, the wise and wisecracking Palutena, the snarky Viridi, the edgy Dark Pit, and…literally everything that is Hades this is easily the best ensemble of characters in any game. Even the side characters like Magnus, Pyrrhon, and the commanders for the Underworld Army and Forces of Nature are all memorable and likeable. All of these characters with their quirky personalities lead to some absolutely excellent interactions. I could list some of my favorites, but instead I'm inviting you to look at the Kid Icarus Uprising Quotes page on TV Tropes. Yeah, when _TV Tropes _is dedicating an entire page to quotes from _one game, _you know there's got to be some funny moments sprinkled in there.

In conclusion, Kid Icarus Uprising is undoubtedly the best 3DS game. Even after the likes of Pokémon Generation 6 and 7, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, Kirby Triple Deluxe and Planet Robobot, among a fuck-ton of other games for the 3DS, it's always that scrappy angel with severe dedication to his goddess that winds up beating them all.

**Pit: "Sorry to keep you waiting!"**

"**That's quite alright, Pit, the wait was totally worth it!"**


	48. Day 48: Okami

Day 48: Okami

By now we all know that The Legend of Zelda Series is the pinnacle of the action/adventure genre. But for me, there's one action/adventure game that's better than that entire franchise. So, hear me out for a sec: What if we took the Legend of Zelda, base it around Japanese Mythology, and for good measure you make the main protagonist a doggo/sun goddess. The result is the pure majesty that is Okami.

Chuggaaconroy, thank you so much, because if it wasn't for your let's play I would've never experienced this game.

The story of Okami takes place one hundred years after Nagi and Shiranui, the past incarnation of our main character Amaterasu, defeated Orochi and sealed him away inside the Moon Cave. Come the following century, and Susano, Nagi's descendant, accidently frees Orochi, and now he threatens the land of Nippon. Amaterasu, the current incarnation of the sun goddess, now must travel the land of Nippon to put Orochi in his place once and for all…and then she goes on to fight an evil kitsune…and then some mechanical owls that can control time…and then the embodiment of pure darkness itself…and then the game ends.

One thing I like about Okami's story, aside from deriving from Japanese myth and folk tales, is how it makes you think it'll end once Orochi is defeated, it's what the first third of the game builds up to anyway. But no, it continues from there as we follow Amaterasu and Issun, this game's equivalent to someone like Navi, as they seek to make Nippon a better place free of monsters.

The gameplay is one of the most interesting I've seen of this genre. Since this is a game inspired by Zelda, you can explore the big open world of Nippon and do multiple side quests as well as feed animals to get collectibles like Stray Beads and Praise, the latter of which can be used to upgrade your Ink Pots, this game's equivalent to the Magic Meter, your unit of solar energy, this game's equivalent to the heart container, your wallet size, and your astral pouch, this game's equivalent to 1-Ups.

You also get three types of divine instruments to assist you: Reflectors, Rosaries, and Glaives. Use these instruments to decimate any enemy that dares to mess with you. Some of these instruments also grant Amaterasu the ability to use Ink Bullets, just use your Celestial Brush to poke dots on some enemies and watch the bullets work their magic. The instruments can also be used as sub-weapons. Rosaries turn into a solid ranged attack, Reflectors act as a shield and a great way to counterattack any enemies that engage you physically, and Glaives can perform dive attacks and upward slashes.

You can also visit the Onigiri Sensei to learn new moves like double jumps, increase your digging capabilities, increase your skills in combat, and even use your piss and shit as weapons, the former of which giving you Demon Fangs to spend on more useful tools. Demon Fangs, which you get after performing floral finisher on enemies or giving them a golden shower, can be used to buy stuff that'll help Amaterasu walk across water or lava, help refuel her ink pots faster, have yen come to her after defeating enemies, and a few more useful items.

But the meat of the gameplay comes with the Celestial Brush Techniques. As the game progresses, you'll gain access to countless abilities that'll help you on your journey. You star with your own ability as a sun goddess, and you can summon the sun, but then you get abilities to restore destroyed pieces of land, the ability to cut through stone, steel, and diamonds, the ability to create bombs, the ability to slow down time, the ability to climb up walls with assistance from certain statues, the ability to use nature to open up certain containers, make lily pads to walk on water, and use vines as a sort of hookshot, and even the ability to control elements like water, fire, wind, electricity, and ice.

The best part of these abilities is that, unlike items from Zelda games, they are used constantly throughout the entire game. It's not like one brush technique is used in the dungeon its introduced in, and then it pretty much becomes situational, no! They're used to solve a plethora of puzzles, expose an enemy's weakness, or get Demon Fangs from the aforementioned floral finishers.

The characters in this game are all really likeable and each of them have their own struggles that they have to overcome, usually with the assistance of Amaterasu. The best examples I can think of would be Susano, Oki, and Issun himself. Susano has to struggle with living up to his ancestor's name, Oki wants to be stronger so he can protect his village, and Issun has to become a Celestial Envoy like his grandfather, Celestial Envoys are basically messengers of the Gods who spread the good word of the Gods. All of these struggles they go through lead up to a very satisfying conclusion that makes you feel for them.

The boss fights in this game are really fun, they test your abilities with your brush techniques, and they are climatic and cinematic as hell. My favorites would have to be Orochi (Only the first fight against him though), Ninetails, Lechku and Nechku, and Yami for all of the build-up that they have going for them.

And I can't talk about Okami without mentioning the gorgeous graphic and sound presentation. This game's art style and cell shaded graphics are similar to that of a Japanese ink painting with very colorful and well detailed landscapes all put over what I can only describe as a sort of filter that gives the game more of a papery look. This graphical aesthetic looks all the more beautiful in the HD versions of this game.

And the soundtrack, oh my God, the soundtrack! While I do stand by the fact that Metal Gear Rising still has my favorite soundtrack, Okami's is easily in the Top 5. Every piece of Japanese styled music fit the tone of each level and boss battle perfectly. I love every boss battle theme in this game as well as the overworld themes of Shinshu Fields, Ryoshima Coast, and Kamui. And I can't forget both versions of this game's main theme of Hikari Shirou's reset. The 'Thank You' version plays during Amaterasu's darkest hour and she needs that one final push to beat Yami once and for all, and the vocal version plays during the credits (At least for the PS2 version) when the world is saved, Amaterasu has made it to the Celestial Plain, and we get a clip show of various moments throughout this game.

I know I think most games are a masterpiece, but Okami especially deserves to be called such a thing thanks to this game's beautiful story, characters, and sound and graphical presentation, and excellent gameplay and boss battles.

This game is pretty much the video game equivalent of the film The Iron Giant, something that despite vast amounts of critical acclaim went by unnoticed with a lot of people not having had the fortune of experiencing it upon release, so word is spread resulting in a huge cult following. If for whatever reason you have not played this game, do yourself a favor and do so right now! This is a fantastic journey from beginning to end and I promise you won't regret it.

Arigato Amaterasu, and Arigato Capcom.


	49. Day 49: Spyro Reignited Trilogy

Day 49: Spyro Reignited Trilogy

And then there were two. I'll be honest, it was a little hard deciding which one of these last two games I like more or less than the other, mainly because they both mean a lot to me. On the one hand we have a game that is super nostalgic for me, and on the other hand we have a game that came to me in a time of need. So which one should I talk about first…I'm going to harness my inner child and talk about the nostalgic one. This is the remake of a trilogy that practically jump started my love for gaming, this is the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

After the success of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, is started to become less of a matter of _if _and more a matter of _when _his purple reptilian counterpart would receive the same treatment. All we had to do was wait one year after the marsupial came back, and when that first trailer for Reignited Trilogy dropped, my inner child was fucking screaming in joy!

Off topic, I'll be honest, I never really grew up with Crash Bandicoot. I mean I had Wrath of Cortex, but I never played the Original Crash Trilogy until my sophomore year of high school. Spyro on the other hand…shit, I still remember coming over to my cousins house in 2003 where they'd be playing Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. All I had to do was take one look at that game and think to myself, "Holy moly, I want this!" And boom, my parents got me the entire Original Spyro Trilogy with my PS2 and played the hell out of these games over and over, and I haven't looked back ever since.

Nostalgic memories aside, let's finally talk about the story of these three games. They remain unchanged, with Spyro the Dragon beign about how Spyro saves the dragons from Gnasty Gnorc after he encases them in crystal after one of the dragons berates him on T.V. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage is about how Spyro wants to go on vacation, but ends up in the world of Avalar where he's faced by the threat of Ripto and his minions Crush and Gulp and now he has to take them out before he goes anywhere else. And Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon follows Spyro, Hunter, and new comers Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley, and Agent 9 as they try and get the Dragon Eggs back from the evil Sorceress.

Gameplay is just as great as I remember it, with all of the characters controlling even smoother than I remember, with all of the gem/orb/talisman/egg collecting, dragon freeing, and gliding and flame breathing action intact. The roll move from Spyro 1 is in all three games now…for some reason (Seriously did anyone ever use that move for anything useful?) But for the most part the gameplay remains unchanged.

One that that has changed are the character designs. First of all, everyone looks so much better, more lively and animated, and so much detail is put into them. Naturally since this game is on better hardware. We've come a long way from the designs of old. Now for the designs themselves. While characters like Spyro remain mostly unchanged, others like Bentley, Bianca, Elora, and Hunter are very well done. Even minor characters like inhabitants in each world, the enemies you come across, and the Dragon Elders from the first game are well designed.

The Dragon Elders in Spyro 1 all have unique designs rather than being re-colors of each other like in the original. Activision and Toys for Bob didn't have to do this…but by God they did, and I'm glad they did because they all look fantastic and I can tell who they are just by looking at them.

Every level is brought back in as much detail and color as before, making them look even more spectacular. Seriously, this game takes full advantage of PS4/Xbox One/Switch capabilities and I love it! The speedways are still just as fun (and somewhat annoying) as they were back then, and the missions in each game are made even better due to the more refined controls. On that note, most of the missions in Year of the Dragon are made even better than in the original. The Yeti Boxing, while pretty easy here, is still miles better than what the original offered, and the Doom Parody for Agent 9's level in Fireworks Factory is actually fun. Those are two of the best examples I could think of in improvements with the missions.

Finally, Stewart Copeland returns to bless our ears with this amazing soundtrack, giving the songs we loved from this trilogy epic remixes. But, if you someone like me who thinks the original music is so amazing you can't listen to anything else, the game offers an option where you can have the original soundtrack from the PS1 era play over all three games. That's amazing! Nothing personal against the remixed music, but when you've been playing the Original Spyro Trilogy as long as I have, it's music _really _starts to grow on you.

Bottom line, Spyro Reignited Trilogy is _the _perfect remake. Take everything that was great about the gameplay and story of the original, give it a massive graphical overhaul, and put it on store shelves for all to admire. While there is still only one other game I view to be better than this, The Original Spyro Trilogy will always be known as the icon that kick started my love of gaming, and the Reignited Trilogy just cemented that love for these games even further. Welcome back Spyro, we all missed you.


	50. Day 50: Super Mario Odyssey

Day 50: Super Mario Odyssey

Let me ask you a question before we visit this last stop on this Lenten Season: Why do _you_ think we play video games? Is it to listen to an enticing story? Meet interesting characters? Explore imaginative lands? Be engrossed by the gameplay? Really any of these reasons are good enough to like, let alone play, a video game. But I personally play a video game to just have fun and escape from reality for a few hours, maybe even a whole day. Every other aspect that I just mentioned is sort of a bonus. There is only one game that I can think of, when I think about escaping the stresses of reality, and it just so happens to come from my favorite franchise. Is this an original choice for my favorite game of all time? Not really. Do I care? Definitely not! So without further ado, I give you game numero uno…the one…the only…

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**(Door opens loudly)**

**Lyra: HEY!**

"**Oh my God, Lyra, what now?! I'm trying to build suspense over here…even though the name of the game is in the title so this is pointless…but still what do you want?!"**

**Lyra: I have been patient long enough! It has been four months since you uploaded a chapter. Why the hell do you keep taking these hiatuses?! I don't care if you have college, or family, or jobs, or whatever other BS you have that keeps you from writing my story, you are making this next chapter whether you like it or not!**

"**Lyra, if you would just calm down for a few more moments, this is the last entry I have for my Lent Challenge. After that, you and the entire Warzone Collection have my full attention."**

**Lyra: I can't wait any longer! I miss the attention! I miss feeling loved by my fans! After Archangel stopped writing my story after the tragic death of my mother, putting us in a six year long hiatus, it was you that brought me, that brought everyone back to life from uncertain despair! I can't go through another dry spell like what Archangel did.**

"**Is that why you keep badgering me? Because you're afraid I've forgotten?"**

**Lyra: (Nods her head)**

"**Oh, Lyra, I could never forget about you or your friends or your family. I never forgot all the plans I had for you all either, and I really do want to keep writing your story, it's just that other things keep getting in the way. In the words of John Lennon, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." I'm still going to work on the story…but don't be surprised when life gets in the way. It doesn't mean I don't care about you guys anymore. So how about it, are we cool?"**

**Lyra: Yeah, we're cool.**

"**Hey…how would you like to cover this last game with me?"**

**Lyra: (Smiles) I'd like that.**

"**Great."**

**(Lyra sits next to me and we nod, ready to finish this marathon)**

**Lyra: And WildCard's Favorite Game of All Time is…**

**Me: **_**…Super Mario Odyssey!**_

* * *

**Me:** Every other Mario game, whether they be platformer, racing, RPG, sport, puzzle, or whatever, bow down to your master! Super Mario Odyssey is the closest a Mario game, scratch that, any video game has ever come to being absolutely perfect!

The gameplay, engaging.

The character, all quirky and uniquely designed.

The levels, big, open, colorful areas just begging for exploring.

The story is actually kind of interesting, Lyra if you would.

**Lyra:** The story in this game involves Bowser who, yet again, captures Princess Peach. But this time, he intends on marrying her, raising the stakes just a little bit. After Mario tries to stop the Koopa King, he ends up sending our favorite mustachioed plumber to a mysterious place called Bonneton, a location in the Cap Kingdom. There, Mario meets a Bonneter named Cappy, who fuses himself to whatever is left of Mario's hat and the two of them set off to save Princess Peach, as well as Cappy's sister Tiara, and stop Bowser's plans to marry Peach while also defeating the franchise's newest baddies, The Broodals.

**Me: **One thing I find interesting about the story is how Bowser meddles in the affairs of every kingdom Mario and Cappy visit. He already stole Tiara, which he uses to give to Peach as a crown to match her wedding dress, which he stole from the Lake Kingdom. He stole the Stupendous Stew and Sparkle Water from Luncheon and Seaside Kingdom respectively to make for food and drink to serve at the reception. He stole The Binding Band from Sand Kingdom to act as a wedding ring. He spreads countless posters all over Metro Kingdom to advertise the wedding. It really does show the effect Bowser's evil is having on the world, something we don't see too often in Mario games.

**Lyra: **In a strange sense with all of the thievery Bowser is doing for this wedding, he's basically trying to make sure he's giving himself and Peach the perfect wedding. It's kind of romantic in a…twisted sort of way.

**Me: **That's beside the point. Let's talk about the characters next. While they're nothing Pulitzer Prize worthy, I really like the designs behind these characters. They're all well detailed and cartoony, and I can't see them anywhere else but in the world of Mario.

**Lyra: **On that note,I really like the idea behind The Broodals, being evil wedding planners who are also anthropomorphic bunny rabbits in formal attire.

**Me: **Yeah, I like them too. And of course we can't overlook the fact that this is the game that Pauline, yes the same Pauline from the original Donkey Kong arcade game, finally makes a main series debut as the mayor of New Donk City, and by golly she's a great singer too.

**Lyra: **And on that note, let's talk about the presentation. Like WildCard said earlier, every single level are vast and open lands with so much to do. It's like a modern day Super Mario 64. Every level is greatly detailed from the colorful Luncheon Kingdom, the New York City/Station Square styled Metro Kingdom, Bowser's Kingdom having a Japanese aesthetic, the Planet Wisp styled Wooded Kingdom, the Tim Burton styled Cap Kingdom, I could go on and on about how beautiful each level looks.

**Me: **As for the music, again it's not my favorite soundtrack in a Mario game, that honor belongs to the Galaxy duology, but this soundtrack does its job just right. My favorite sound tracks in this game are Cap Kingdom, Wooded Kingdom, Torkdrift's battle theme, Metro Kingdom, Luncheon Kingdom, Bowser's Kingdom Courtyard, Mecha-Brood's theme, and the two vocal themes of this game, Jump Up Super Star and Honeylune Ridge (Escape).

**Lyra: **Jump Up Super Star is especially a fantastic song, basically being a love letter to everything Mario, or as Youtuber Nitro Rad put it, a love song from the game to you as you celebrate all of the good times you had with the series. Hmm, I wonder if there's anyone from 1985 who played the first Super Mario Bros. that's playing Super Mario Odyssey today. Probably, somewhere.

**Me: **And at long last, we have this game's strongest point in my opinion, the gameplay! On top of giving Mario an interesting roll move to make traversing these large worlds even easier, this game gives us Cappy!

**Lyra: **Every main series Mario game has to have at least one thing in it to separate it from the rest, and Cappy does that for this game. With Cappy, you can pull off tons of moves. Whether it be a simple throw, a throw that has him circle around you, or even use him as another platform. That's some game breaking stuff right there.

**Me: **Speaking of game breaking, this game kind of encourages it, as going to areas that you thought would be impossible to reach rewards you with a plethora of coins. This game encourages exploring each and every level to the fullest and that is a brilliant idea to not only entice those who love exploring levels, but also encourage others to do so as well.

**Lyra: **Back onto Cappy, we have yet to talk about the skill that defines this game. Somebody call an exorcist because we've got a possession on our hands.

**Me: **With Cappy we can posses loads of enemies. Possessing Goombas to create a huge Goomba stack, Possessing Cheep Cheeps to swim fast and breathe underwater, Possessing Hammer Bros to break blocks, Possessing Lava Bubbles to traverse through lava. And this game even offers new faces to possess like the Uproot to reach tall platforms, Pokio to latch onto walls, Tropical Wigglers to reach faraway platforms, a plethora of NPCs, _Bowser _at the end of the journey to escape the Moon Kingdom, _and a fucking T-Rex!_

**Lyra: **Possessing NPCs, enemies, and random items are how you access secret areas as well as get this games main collectables, the purple coins and Power Moons.

**Me: **With the Purple Coins, you can use them at these shops to buy alternate costumes for Mario to wear, each of them reflecting some kind of history of the franchise. You can get Mario's construction uniform from Super Mario Maker, Mario's golfing outfit from the good old days of the NES, a costume based on a Japanese New 3DS commercial, a costume that has Mario in nothing more than his underwear, a costume that is literally his Mario 64 sprite, and so much more. You'll search each and every kingdom for these coins to buy more and more costumes to mix and match with.

**Lyra: **The coins can also be used to buy stickers and other decorations for your ship. I know it's not much, but hey it gives you a reason to collect these coins.

**Me: **Then we get to the moons. In total there are 999 moons in the game. You can get the by following the main story, exploring the level to find secret and/or new areas, interacting with NPCs, buying them at the shop, beating a boss, or doing these side scrolling missions that are in the style of the original 1985 Mario game. Most of these moons are easy to find, but the ones that offer a challenge are really challenging, especially the ones you do after beating the main story.

**Lyra: **And now we come to the possession of bosses. Most of these boss use Cappy's possession ability greatly. Possessing Knucklotec's hands to damage him in his fight, possessing an Uproot to dodge Torkdrift's shockwaves and hit his weak point, possessing a Sherm to take on Mecha-Wiggler, possessing a Pokio to take on Mecha-Brood, and like WildCard mentioned earlier, possessing Bowser so you and Peach can escape the Moon Kingdom. Possession is clearly the name of the game here and the stand out feature that makes Mario Odyssey the phenomenal masterpiece that it is.

**Me: **So yeah, with fantastic gameplay, gorgeous presentation, fun bosses, likable characters, interesting story for Mario standars, and some of the best levels the series has to offer, it's not wonder why this game is not only my favorite game in the series, but also my favorite game of all time.

**Lyra: **There's a kicker coming isn't there.

**Me: **How'd you know?

**Lyra: **Last chapter you said one of the two games came to you in a time of need, I assume this is it?

**Me: **Indeed. Let me explain…

* * *

I graduated from my local community college in the Spring of 2017 with an Associate's Degree in Media Studies, but I also wanted to try my hand at gaming, thinking it would be a good creative outlet to make levels and design characters. So come that following Autumn when I signed up for the gaming program and…it was nothing like I thought it would be. With tons of subjects that I couldn't wrap my head around like logarithms, loops, algorithms, and whatnot, I just wasn't interested in that sort of thing and thought I could just create and let my imagination run wild. Naturally, this lead to a great amount of stress that I didn't know how to alleviate, made even worse because I was juggling a job and my, at the time, new fanfic "The Legend of Sir Justice and the South Park Saints."

This was also around the time Super Mario Odyssey got released, and when I bought it on launch day…it took some of that stress away. I felt like I could escape from reality for a few hours, forget all about everything that was troubling me, and just have fun in all of these colorful worlds Mario was visiting.

Unfortunately, the stress and worry would immediately return after I turn the game off, in fact it kind of worsened as the semester went on, getting to the point where I would break down and cry due to the stress. My parents noticed my stress and unhappiness and told me that for the sake of my mental health, to drop out and take a year off to figure out what to do next. I did just that, but I'm usually not one to quit. I like to see things through to the end, no matter what awaits me, and the fact that I couldn't finish this and drop out made me feel like a failure.

Suffice it to say, I was a little bit depressed after that. Do you know what game was there for me to pull me out of my depression? Super Mario Odyssey! Collecting the Power Moons and exploring through each and every level until I was happy again, that's what this game did for me. It relieved my stresses whenever I had them and…for lack of a better term, cured my brief depression, allowing me to think positive again and set my sights towards a Bachelor's Degree in Media Studies which I should hopefully get this Spring. I know you're all probably thinking, "dude it's just school it's not like you fought in a war or you were a victim of abuse, calm down." Here's the thing, I don't usually have a lot of turmoil or pain in my life. That semester in that gaming program is hopefully the lowest I'll ever feel, and the fact that a simple game can make me escape and have fun to forget everything wrong with that moment in time…it occurred to me that that's why I play most video games: Escapism.

I play video games to escape mundane or stressful situations and have an absolute ball. I can explore worlds that I've only seen in my dreams. Meet characters that I only wish were real. Be the hero I always wanted to be and save whatever beautiful world, or worlds, that I've found myself in.

I know everyone's reason for playing video games are different, but I figured I'd use this moment to tell you why _I personally _play video games. Furthermore, I know people have their own forms of escapism like films, books, music, but again I want to tell you my personal method of escapism. Bottom line, if there's one word I can use Super Mario Odyssey, it's escapism! And that's why this is my favorite game of all time, it helped me cope with stressful situations and is arguably the most fun I have ever had with any video game ever.

Mario, here's to you! I very much look forward to seeing what grand adventure you have in store for me and all of your fans. You really are number one!

* * *

Epilogue

And that's all I have for my Top 50 Favorite Games. For those of you who have read all the way through, thank you, I really appreciate it. Granted, I didn't intend for a lot of people to read this as it was supposed to be a fun way to do Lent while simultaneously giving my readers a chance to know a little bit about me and my taste in gaming.

I doubt I inspired anyone to go out and try any of these games listed here, but again, I could argue that that wasn't my original intention. Although, if for some reason I did inspire you to play any of these games…cool, I hope you have as much fun with whatever game I inspired you to play as much as I did.

Like I said in the beginning, everything is susceptible to change as more games are getting made and released every day, I replay through certain games and get newer opinions, and I play more and more games in my backlog. Nothing about this list is set in stone. Hell, for all I know this time next year this list could be entirely different. But as of right now, these are my favorite games, with Super Mario Odyssey as the undefeated champion of my game loving heart.

Again, for those of you who read this marathon all the way through, I thank you.

**(I turn to Lyra)**

"**And thank you for joining me, Lyra."**

**Lyra: You're so welcome, WildCard. You have yourself a happy Easter, you hear?**

"**You too. With that, we must leave you all. I'm WildCard0531…"**

**Lyra: And I'm Lyra Katherine Marsh…**

"**And we wish you all a Happy Easter. Also, I encourage you all to tell me what your favorite games are and why you love them so much? Feel free to comment with a response. Have a nice day, everyone!"**


End file.
